THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: If Saudis get away with buying golf, which sport is next?

Has there ever been a PR dumpster fire quite like this business with pro golf and Saudi Arabia?

PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan has bumbled through explanations and interviews, and managed to make ALL sides angry.

Somehow, his own players (who are his employers) wound up screaming at him for betrayal, while he was also being vilified by families of those who died on Sept. 11.

“I admit I can be called a hypocrite,” Monahan said, when confronted with all his previous statements criticizing the very existence of the LIV Tour.

Now that’s touching all the bases.

Then you have 65-year-old Jimmy Dunne, unknown to the public a week ago, a PGA Tour board member who apparently took it upon himself to contact the Saudis and seek some kind of détente.

Dunne may be chairman of the super-swank Seminole Club in south Florida, but he clearly wasn’t ready for international ridicule.

“I am quite certain and have had conversations with a lot of knowledgeable people that the people that I’m dealing with (from the PIF) had nothing to do with (the Sept. 11 attacks),” Dunne told Golf Channel.

“And if someone can find someone that unequivocally was involved with it, I’ll kill him myself.”

THERE’S a gentleman’s approach.

Before we get to the most important point in this so-called merger, though, it’s interesting to note that Dunne — despite failing his public speaking class — actually put together a deal that would benefit the PGA Tour over the long haul.

Dunne suspected, and was proved correct, that PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan wasn’t really all that fired up about the LIV Tour.

It turned out that Al-Rumayyan wanted to get a huge chunk of Saudi money into world golf, and knew he had to go through the PGA Tour to get there.

Apparently, Dunne and Al-Rumayyan came to an understanding that the PIF would simply be an investment vehicle — not just the biggest, but one with complete veto power.

In return, the Saudis would let the PGA Tour and the rest of world golf run its business as it saw fit.

Yes, and even …

Feel free to punish the golfers who bolted for the LIV money, by attaching some caveats if/when they apply for reinstatement to the PGA Tour.

By the way, if this sounds like the Saudis are willing to throw Greg Norman (and even Phil Mickelson, to an extent) under the next passing bus, well, so be it.

For the record, this deal could face some potentially serious legal and governmental challenges, so it’s hardly written in stone.

But for the sake of argument, let’s say the agreement is allowed to go forward.

That brings up a matter far more important than how Monahan, Dunne or any of the golfers described affairs which each wandered in front of the nearest microphone.

DO WE really want Saudi Arabia, a country run by a murderous prince who oversees the execution of gays and presides over a ghastly human rights record, to succeed in the most monstrous sportswashing of all time?

Should the PGA Tour or anyone else roll over and ignore Sept. 11, the murder of Jamal Khashoggi and all those other Saudi outrages?

David Samson, business lawyer and former president of the Miami Marlins, does a fascinating weekday podcast called “Nothing Personal.”

Actually, it’s better understood by knowing the first half of his signature phrase: “It’s just business … ”

Samson has pointed out that the Saudis (along with Mideast neighbors Qatar and Abu Dhabi) are now in the practice of sportswashing on a grand scale — using their limitless money to push further and further into sports around the world.

“They’ve bought and run some of the biggest football clubs in Europe, and they’re in Formula 1 (racing),” Samson said.

“Now it’s golf.

“Is there any reason they would ignore major teams and leagues in America?”

Samson pointed out that, although neither the PIF nor any other sovereign fund has bought into a North American team or league yet, it’s just a matter of time.

“The next step is for them to take a minority position in a team, and then a controlling position.”

Samson at last tossed out what might be called the sportswashing apocalypse.

“What if the Saudis went to all the owners of the NFL and said, ‘We’ll buy each of you out for $50 BILLION. We want to run the league for a trillion dollars.’“

Feel free to shiver.

Remember that these people have unfathomable amounts of money, and are shooting for a huge spot on the world stage.

Perhaps halting this PGA Tour merger would be a good idea.

Saudi cash is coming soon enough.

Why help this villainous nation along?

Email: scameron@cdapress.com

Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press four times each week, normally Tuesday through Friday unless, you know, stuff happens.

Steve suggests you take his opinions in the spirit of a Jimmy Buffett song: “Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On.”