So, it finally happened. After two years of moral grandstanding, public mudslinging, and a litany of antitrust lawsuits, the PGA Tour and LIV Golf announced they would merge as one entity. This union also includes the DP World Tour — previously the European Tour.
Huge News for World Golf
The new, yet-to-be-named for-profit company will combine the PGA and LIV Golf's commercial enterprises and end all pending litigation between the two sporting bodies. The golfing world is still processing this huge news.
LIV Golf's financial backers, the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund (PIF), have already poured $2 billion into the LIV venture. PIF promised to invest billions more into this deal, of which the details are not yet disclosed. Ironically, LIV Golf's outspoken frontman, champion of LIV Golf, and former world number one golfer Greg Norman was kept out of the loop.
Approval Needed
This news also comes after a game-changing merger between the UFC and WWE was announced earlier this year. However, according to PGA Commissioner Jay Monahan, the PGA Tour policy board still needs to approve the agreement.
“There is much work to do to get us from a framework agreement to a definitive agreement,” said Monahan in a memo. “But one thing is obvious: through this transformational agreement and with PIF's collaborative investment, the immeasurable strength of the PGA Tour's history, legacy, and pro-competitive model not only remains intact but is supercharged for the future.”
All Proposals Will Be Heard
Yasir AL-Rumayyan is the PIF governor, disclosing this week that he expects the merger to be completed in just a few weeks. He reiterated that all proposals for the venture would be heard in the coming negotiations.
LIV Golf now has TV distribution with the CW Network, having secured a deal to bring 14 live international LIV Golf events, which began in February. A representative of Nexstar Media Group explained the current LIV Golf scheduling would remain unchanged.
Golf Changed Forever
LIV Golf, the PGA's rival association, started in 2021. Since then, many prominent PGA members followed PGA legend Phil Mickelson's lead and signed up for LIV Golf's controversial tour. Reportedly, elite-level PGA golfers, including Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, and Brooks Koepke, received lucrative contracts when agreeing to appear in LIV Golf events.
However, the PGA struck back, banning all departing golfers from PGA tour competition and stripping all competing Europeans and Americans from the upcoming Ryder Cup — Team Europe even stripped Swede Henrik Stenson of the European team captaincy.
Saudi Arabian Sportwashing
Since then, a war of words between prominent golfers such as PGA legend Tiger Woods and current PGA figurehead Rory McIlroy has erupted over a backdrop of litigation, dividing golf fans worldwide.
The division stems from accusations of sport washing amid Saudi Arabia's human rights violations, including the violent murder of former Saudi citizen and American journalist Jamal Khashoggi, which occurred at the Saudi Arabian Consulate in Istanbul in 2018.
His assassination has since been linked to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, who retains strong ties to all Saudi-backed investments.
A Sad Day for 9/11 Victims
Moreover, charity group 9/11 Families United released a statement on their website denouncing this plan, revealing they were “shocked and deeply offended” by this news. “Saudi operatives played a role in the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and now it is bankrolling all of professional golf.”
In 2022, Jay Monahan was quoted on national television asking whether PGA golfers had to apologize for playing on the PGA tour, to which 9/11 Families United responded: “They do now — as does he.”
