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The Alliance of LIV Golf and the PGA Tour: Here’s What to Know

The details of the partnership are far from complete, according to a document outlining the framework of the deal.

By Kevin Draper

The PGA Tour, the world’s pre-eminent professional golf league, and LIV Golf, a Saudi-funded upstart whose emergence over the past year and a half has cleaved the sport in two, have agreed to join forces.

The pact is complicated and incomplete: A document submitted to Congress and obtained by The New York Times includes only a handful of binding commitments . But numerous golfers hate it, and for the moment they are directing their wrath at the architects of the deal. Let’s start from the beginning.

What are the PGA Tour and LIV Golf?

The PGA Tour holds tournaments nearly every weekend, mostly in the United States but also in other countries in North America, Europe and Asia, with prize pools worth millions of dollars. The tour has been the home to practically every male golfer you can name: Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Arnold Palmer and so on.

It has relationships with, but is separate from, the organizations that stage men’s golf’s four majors: the Masters Tournament, the P.G.A. Championship, the U.S. Open and the British Open. (The L.P.G.A., which runs the women’s tour, is separate.)

LIV Golf began in late 2021 with the former PGA Tour player Greg Norman as its commissioner and billions of dollars in backing from the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, which is known as the Public Investment Fund. LIV lured several PGA Tour players, including the major champions Phil Mickelson and Brooks Koepka, with massive purses and guaranteed payouts that far surpassed what they could earn on the established circuit.

LIV promised a sharp break from golf’s fusty traditionalism, starting with its name, which, when pronounced, rhymes with “give” but is actually the Roman numeral for 54, the number of holes played in each tournament. LIV had music blaring at its events, looser dress codes and team competitions — and tournaments that lasted three days instead of four. Further, and of particular appeal to potential players, while the PGA Tour tournaments cut golfers with the worst scores after two rounds, LIV did not cut anyone.

What was the relationship between the leagues before the deal?

Acrimonious, to put it lightly. Players who joined LIV were forced to resign from the PGA Tour — and its European equivalent, the DP World Tour — under the threat of suspension and fines. LIV sued the PGA Tour, and the PGA Tour countersued, litigation that is technically continuing (though the deal is supposed to resolve it).

PGA Tour supporters and other critics of LIV said the venture was simply an attempt by the Saudi government to distract attention from its human rights record, while LIV supporters said the PGA Tour was a monopoly that used inappropriate strong-arm tactics to protect its position in big-time sports.

And yet now they are combining?

It seems so. The PGA Tour and LIV announced on June 6 the creation of a new entity that would combine their assets, as well as those of the DP World Tour, and radically change golf’s governance.

The PGA Tour would remain a nonprofit organization and would retain full control over how its tournaments are played. But all of the PGA Tour’s commercial business and rights — such as the extremely lucrative rights to televise its tournaments — would be owned by a new, yet unnamed, for-profit entity that is currently called “NewCo.” NewCo will also own LIV as well as the commercial and business rights of the DP World Tour.

The board of directors for the new for-profit entity would be led by Yasir al-Rumayyan, who is the governor of the Public Investment Fund and also oversees LIV. Three other members of the board’s executive committee would be current members of the PGA Tour’s board, and the tour would appoint the majority of the board and hold a majority voting interest, effectively controlling it.

What have they agreed on?

Not much, it turns out. The PGA Tour’s tentative deal with Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund includes only a handful of binding commitments, such as a nondisparagement agreement and a pledge to dismiss acrimonious litigation. (The sides have already moved to end their legal fights .) What it does not include is a clear path of what lies ahead for the tours: Many of the most consequential details about the future of men’s professional golf have not been resolved, and were left to be negotiated by the end of the year.

Most crucially, the tour and the wealth fund must still come to terms on the values of the assets that each will contribute to their planned partnership. Bankers and lawyers have spent recent weeks beginning the valuation process, but a five-page framework agreement obtained by The New York Times includes no substantive details of projected figures or even the size of an anticipated cash investment from the wealth fund.

And one issue the two parties had agreed on has been removed. The framework agreement included a nonsolicitation clause, which said the PGA Tour and LIV Golf would not “enter into any contract, agreement or understanding with” any “players who are members of the other’s tour or organization.” But the two sides, facing pressure from the Justice Department, decided to abandon that clause .

When does this take effect?

First, the idea also has to be approved by the PGA Tour’s policy board, what it calls its board of directors, which includes some people who were left out of the secret negotiations for this deal in the spring.

The policy board is made up of five independent directors, including Ed Herlihy and Jimmy Dunne, who helped negotiate the deal. The board also includes five players: Patrick Cantlay, Charley Hoffman, Peter Malnati, Rory McIlroy and Webb Simpson.

Jay Monahan, the commissioner of the PGA Tour, said on June 6 that there was only a “framework agreement” and not a “definitive agreement,” with many details still to be decided. The definitive agreement needs a vote before it can go forward.

And for the rest of 2023, all the tours will remain separate, and all their tournaments will continue as scheduled.

And after that?

Who knows? This is how Monahan answered questions about what golf might look like in the future on the day the alliance was revealed.

Will LIV continue to exist as a separate golf league? “I don’t want to make any statements or make any predictions.”

Will LIV golfers go back to the PGA Tour and DP World Tour? “We will work cooperatively to establish a fair and objective process for any players who desire to reapply for membership with the PGA Tour or the DP World Tour,” Monahan wrote in a letter to players.

Will PGA Tour players, many of whom spurned LIV and its huge paydays, receive compensation? Will LIV players somehow be forced to give up the money they were guaranteed? “I think those are all the serious conversations that we’re going to have,” Monahan told reporters.

How do players feel about all of this?

Broadly, LIV players seem to think they have gained a major victory, and they are probably right. They got their cake (huge paydays) and can eat it (a pathway to returning to the PGA Tour), too.

Mickelson, the first major player to leave for LIV, tweeted that it was an “awesome day today.” Koepka took a jab at Brandel Chamblee, a former professional golfer and current television commentator, who has been vocally anti-LIV.

Many PGA Tour players were less jubilant. They were blindsided by the news, learning of the agreement when the public did, and they did not seem to understand why the tour waged a legal war against LIV and a war of morality against Saudi money, only to invite the wolf into the henhouse.

On the day the news broke, Monahan met with a group of players in Toronto at the Canadian Open, which was set to start in two days, and afterward told reporters it was “intense, certainly heated.”

Johnson Wagner, a PGA Tour player, said on the Golf Channel that some players at the meeting called for Monahan’s resignation.

“There were many moments where certain players were calling for new leadership of the PGA Tour, and even got a couple standing ovations,” he said. “I think the most powerful moment was when a player quoted Commissioner Monahan from the 3M Open in Minnesota last year when he said, ‘As long as I’m commissioner of the PGA Tour, no player that took LIV money will ever play the PGA Tour again.’”

Wagner estimated that 90 percent of the players in the meeting were against the merger.

McIlroy, perhaps the most influential PGA Tour player not named Tiger Woods, said he was reluctantly in favor of the agreement. McIlroy said he had “come to terms” with Saudi money in golf. “Honestly, I’ve just resigned myself to the fact that this is, you know, this is what’s going to happen,” he said.

I see a photo of former President Trump up there. Is he involved in this?

Yes, though not directly. The Trump Organization owns golf courses around the world, and Donald J. Trump has for years sought to host major tournaments on its properties. Those efforts suffered a setback after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob, as the golf establishment distanced itself from the former president. Most significantly, the P.G.A. of America pulled the 2022 P.G.A. Championship from the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J.

But Trump had cultivated unusually close ties to Saudi Arabia while president, and Saudi-backed LIV had no problem embracing him. Last year, two LIV events were held at Trump courses, and this year it will be three.

Trump’s son Eric said that the agreement between LIV and the PGA Tour was a “wonderful thing for the game of golf” and that he expected tournaments to continue to be held at Trump-owned courses. He declined to comment on whether the Trump family played any role in bringing the two parties together.

If the PGA Tour was so against LIV and Saudi money, what changed?

“Listen, circumstances change, and they’ve been changing a lot over the last couple years,” Monahan said.

Get it? No?

“What changed? I looked at where we were at that point in time, and it was the right point in time to have a conversation,” Monahan said.

Between the lines, Monahan made it sound like the agreement came down to money and competition, as it often does. To compete with LIV, the PGA Tour has enhanced purses, supported the DP World Tour financially and pursued extremely expensive litigation. “We’ve had to invest back in our business through our reserves,” Monahan said.

He also said the ability to “take the competitor off of the board” while retaining control was significant.

Can anybody else stop the deal from going through?

The Justice Department, Federal Trade Commission or the European Commission could certainly try.

For about a year, the Justice Department has been investigating the tight-knit relationship between the PGA Tour and other powerful entities in golf. Among its questions is whether the organizations have exerted improper influence over the Official World Golf Rankings, which determine players’ eligibility for certain events and can be an important factor in their success and income.

As part of their deal, LIV and the PGA Tour agreed to drop their dueling lawsuits, but doing so would not necessarily change the Justice Department’s inquiry. If there were any illegal conduct by the PGA Tour, a merger would not prevent the PGA Tour from being punished for it.

“The announcement of a merger doesn’t forgive past sins,” said Bill Baer, who led the Justice Department’s antitrust division during the Obama administration.

The federal government, through the Justice Department and the F.T.C., also reviews more than 1,000 mergers for approval each year, and the European Commission reviews them for the European Union. Without a definitive agreement, it is not clear whether this might be the type of combination regulators could block or whether they would try to do so.

Saudi Arabia seems to have grand sports ambitions. Will it always remain a junior partner to the PGA Tour in golf?

As always, Saudi Arabia has the perfect vehicle to gain more control: money.

The Public Investment Fund will invest “billions,” according to its governor, al-Rumayyan, into the new for-profit entity. It will also hold “the exclusive right to further invest in the new entity, including a right of first refusal on any capital that may be invested in the new entity, including into the PGA Tour, LIV Golf and DP World Tour,” according to the release announcing the agreement.

If the Public Investment Fund invests more money, it will surely demand more board seats and greater voting rights, further tilting control of men’s professional golf toward the kingdom.

Kevin Draper is an investigative reporter on the Sports desk, where he has written about workplace harassment and discrimination, sexual misconduct, doping, league investigations and high-profile court cases. More about Kevin Draper

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The PGA Tour vs. LIV: Inside the battle between a giant that won't budge and a startup that won't stop

The songs thundering through the course were indistinguishable, each pop track sounding like the one that came before. The only disruption was a voice. It was unclear to whom the voice belonged or where he was, although judging by the cadence and spirit it was more deejay than public announcer. The voice said a lot of things during the LIV Golf Invitational at Trump Bedminster in mid-July, most of which—like “Get on your feet!” and “Make some noise!” and “Who wants a free shirt?!”—was forgotten as soon as it was said. Yet how the voice ended each message was indelible, for it was both welcoming while serving as a warning.

“Thanks again for joining us at LIV Golf!” crooned the voice. “The future of golf … is here!”

The idea of a fledgling competitor to the PGA Tour has lurked in the shadows for years, discussed as a provocative hypothetical but one whose reality and viability were routinely dismissed. Only LIV Golf has proved in very little time how real and formidable it can be, siphoning talent from the PGA and DP World Tours and threatening a schism that could tear the collective tissue of professional golf into pieces.

The emergence of the Saudi-backed circuit has resulted in break-ups and alliances, and caused suspensions and lawsuits. It has made a game known for its civility become uncivil and brought politics and human-rights issues into a space supposedly reserved for sport. It has spurred reactions that span the emotional spectrum, from intrigue and excitement to existential angst and dread and everything in between.

While all that is true, they are mostly trappings of the present. What really matters is where this is going. Is the voice correct, that the novelty of LIV Golf is not just a curiosity but indeed the future? Or does the new venture share the destiny of so many other rogue professional leagues that similarly proposed disruption only to end in a graveyard? How secure is the PGA Tour and how does an entity shackled by finite resources do battle against not a company but a country with seemingly unlimited assets at its disposal? Is there room for cooperation? Coexistence? And if not, what are the ramifications the longer this war wages?

In pursuit of an answer Golf Digest spoke to more than 30 sources entrenched on both sides, along with a number of authorities outside the walls of the PGA Tour and LIV Golf who provided insight on how this could shake out. A look into LIV’s origins and its master plans, and the tour’s response to the threat, suggests professional golf is in the early stages of a dramatic overhaul.

Provided it doesn't implode first.

A Saudi long game

THE MAN BEHIND PROFESSIONAL GOLF’S RECKONING is not a golfer. He doesn’t care for sports, period. To understand where the schism is going you need to understand how it started, and with who.

Mohammed bin Salman, 36, is the crown prince, deputy prime minister, and minister of defense of Saudi Arabia. His father, Salman bin Abdulaziz, is the country’s king, but bin Salman is considered the de facto ruler. His rise to power over the past decade has transformed social and commercial life in the kingdom while strengthening the country’s position on the international stage as a geopolitical force.

“Saudi Arabia for the past 30 years was like watching a silent movie: one elderly king after another flickered across the screen saying nothing and doing nothing,” says Karen House, a Pulitzer Prize winner and former Wall Street Journal publisher who has covered Saudi Arabia extensively for four decades. “Saudi Arabia since 2016 is an IMAX movie on fast forward. Everything MBS does is big, bold, fast, loud, riveting.”

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attends the Future Investment Initiative (FII) conference in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Oct. 23, 2018.

FAYEZ NURELDINE

Bin Salman introduced Vision 2030, a blueprint to diminish Saudi Arabia’s reliance on oil by diversifying the economy and modernizing its public services. Some of its initiatives are not dissimilar from efforts of other countries, like combating unemployment and expanding e-commerce and technology. Others are high-profile projects like the development of ultra-luxury resorts and the construction of a megaproject city called Neom, which recently made news for its proposal of erecting two buildings each as tall as 1,600 feet that run parallel for 75 miles across coastal, mountain and desert terrain.

One of Vision 2030’s tenets is a “vibrant society,” and a means to reach this ambition is sports. It’s been a relatively successful venture, bringing in boxing, wrestling and tennis exhibitions, along with Formula 1 races to the kingdom. The country recently announced its bid to host the soccer AFC Women's Asian Cup, and in 2021 the Public Investment Fund—which is the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund—purchased an 80-percent stake in Newcastle United, a professional football club in the English Premier League.

"He doubles down. He is not accustomed to losing," House said of bin Salman. "When he fails at something, his inclination is to try harder."

Part of the sports campaign is Golf Saudi, led by Yasir Al-Rumayyan, who is part of bin Salman’s inner circle and serves as governor of the PIF. Al-Rumayyan is considered a passionate golfer, and his imagination for what the sport could do for Saudi Arabia is fertile. There are aspects that begin at the grassroots level, such as growing golf participation in Saudi Arabia and developing a national team and elite players, along with big-picture items, such as developing courses to aid tourism and hosting professional competitions. It is this last point that sparked the Saudi International into existence in 2019, a tournament that was initially sanctioned by the European Tour.

From an investment standpoint, LIV Golf is a small enterprise compared to other Vision 2030 projects. LIV Golf has somewhere in the neighborhood of $3 billion in funding; for context, Neom has a starting budget of $500 billion and the aforementioned 75-mile buildings are expected to cost $1 trillion and take 50 years to construct. However, the golf endeavor has heightened importance in the kingdom’s push for what it sees as a better tomorrow, multiple sources say. For one, Al-Rumayyan views LIV as his darling, and his voice carries particular weight in bin Salman’s circle. Another benefit is the conduit it can be to business and government leaders; it is not an accident LIV Golf has teamed with former U.S. President Donald Trump amid expectation Trump will begin his third campaign for the presidency this fall.

But a point that cannot be stressed enough, and arguably fuels the desire to make LIV Golf ultimately succeed, is bin Salman’s quest for total and absolute power, House says. They are sentiments at the heart of bin Salman’s reign.

“Despite sweeping social and economic changes that have liberated society, political life has moved in reverse,” House explains.

Bin Salman has continually and sometimes ruthlessly silenced dissidents. Human rights are oppressed. The Saudis have led a military invention in Yemen—out of fear that Yemen could be a satellite for Iran—and the resulting civil war has become a humanitarian crisis. A 2017 purge of nearly 400 princes, businessmen and religious leaders consolidated authority over every branch of the government. Saudis began calling bin Salman “Mr. Everything.” He does what he wants; the only person bin Salman answers to is his father, and House says bin Salman has his father’s total support.

Saudi Golf and, as an extension, Vision 2030 and bin Salman were rebuffed in their attempts to become part of golf’s political matrix with the PGA Tour and European Tour. The PGA Tour has been adamant it never held dialogue with LIV Golf or Golf Saudi, while the European Tour did listen to overtures before eventually coming to a “strategic alliance” with the PGA Tour . Theoretically, getting rejected from golf’s ecosystem should have scrapped the Golf Saudi project. That is not what bin Salman does.

“He doubles down. He is not accustomed to losing,” House explains. “When he fails at something, his inclination is to try harder.”

If golf’s current framework wouldn’t let the Saudis in, they would create their own. It sounds ambitious, and it is. But to those who dispute the formidable nature of LIV Golf, Golf Saudi and bin Salman, who hear grand ambitions of megacities in the desert and 75-mile buildings and laugh, it’s worth noting bin Salman’s true passion: video games. According to House, it explains both bin Salman’s fantastical aspirations and serves as a warning to his doubters.

“The reason he believes he can do anything is that, in the world of video games, anything is possible,” House says. “He’s in love with video games where all things are possible and believes that if you put your mind to it, that's what real life is like too.”

A startup unlike any other

THE QUESTION BORDERS ON OFFENSIVE: Are you, a Northwestern MBA, former chief operating officer of an MLS franchise and chief corporate development and brand officer for an NFL team, running a glorified PR exercise that will continue to hemorrhage money?

Atul Khosla, 43, left his job with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to become the COO of LIV Golf in January 2022. Khosla is a sports-business veteran, and he wants to make one thing clear: This, too, is a business. A business that fully plans to turn a profit.

“If you look at the investment portfolio of our primary investor, PIF, they have invested all over the world in incredibly large businesses that they believe will be profitable,” Khosla says. “Their view of this is no different. That’s the expectation that we have from our board.

“Like any other startup, do we have upfront costs to get the product off the ground? Yes, we do. And it is no different than a burn rate that an Uber may have or any other startup tech might have to get the product off the ground with a vision of disrupting the space. We are fortunate, of course, to have an institution that has the patience to be able to go through this methodically and in the right fashion.”

Greg Norman, commissioner/CEO of LIV Golf, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, governor of the Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, and Majed Al Sorour, CEO of the Golf Saudi, stand on the first tee of the third round of the LIV Golf Invitational Bedminster in July.

Icon Sportswire

LIV executives constantly refer to their enterprise as a startup. It’s a touch humorous, given they’re going toe-to-toe with an established American sports institution; this is hardly four guys in a garage with a dream. Still, they will tell you that this entire inaugural year is essentially a beta test of their product, that they’ll make changes on the fly and react to what’s working and what isn’t. The vast majority of startups lose money before they make money—burn rate, to use one of Khosla’s MBA terms—and LIV certainly qualifies. It’s not just the hundreds of millions going to the likes of Phil Mickelson , Dustin Johnson , Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka . It’s the rumored $40 million going to the Ian Poulter types. LIV is spending so much money to launch a professional sports league. It’s paying players guaranteed money; the PGA Tour does not. It’s paying for players’ travel and accommodations; the PGA Tour does not. It’s paying for caddies’ travel and accommodations; the PGA Tour does not. The same is true for agents, coaches and player families. It’s paying each host venue a healthy fee to take over the property for a week. It’s paying a full staff of executives. It’s paying musicians to play concerts. It’s paying for the grandstands, the hospitality tents, the signage. It’s paying for the production of the broadcast.

"The value is driven purely by demand," one top agent says. "This is like a real-life fantasy league."

And LIV is doing all this with virtually no revenue to offset the costs. Tickets for the two U.S. events could be had for a few bucks. The broadcast airs free on YouTube, with no commercials. There was not a single corporate logo (other than LIV’s) present at either Pumpkin Ridge or Trump Bedminster. When asked about their surely warped balance sheet, LIV executives begin talking about the future. The vision. LIV Golf, they say, hasn’t even properly started.

That’ll happen next year, when LIV transitions from a series of invitational tournaments to a 14-event “league schedule.” The three events this year, with five more to come, have been a bit scrambled—different fields, different teams. That will not be the case in 2023; the plan is for 48 contracted players to play in all 14 events, and for 12 four-man teams to be set at the beginning of the year and stay consistent throughout the season.

“The way I would look at it,” says Ron Cross, who worked at both Augusta National and the PGA Tour before becoming LIV’s chief events officer, “we’ve compared ourselves to, and others have compared ourselves to, the Formula 1 model. When you go to an F1 race, it’s a consistent look and feel. But Austin has some uniqueness. And Monaco is a little different from Spain, and other markets. You’ll find us doing the same thing.”

And, according to multiple agents from across different agencies, the vast majority of those league spots are spoken for—so much so that LIV has turned away multiple players in the top 50 of the World Ranking who have expressed interest in negotiating a contract.

“One of my players sort of nudged me toward seeing if there might be an offer on the table,” says one agent, “and we were told, basically, 'Sorry. We’re full for next year.’”

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Formula 1 does seem to be the guiding light for LIV’s future vision—particularly as it pertains to the team component. There are 10 teams in Formula 1, each owned by a corporation: Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes, Alpine, McLaren, Alfa Romeo, Haas F1, AlphaTauri, Aston Martin, Williams. Each team has two drivers under contract. The driver’s deals are with each specific team, not with Formula 1. That, eventually, seems to be the vision for LIV Golf: to have 12 distinct teams, each with its own ownership group, each with the power to sign its own players, cut them and trade them. In an ideal scenario, and this is far down the line, each team would function more like a traditional sports franchise with its own merchandise, C-level suites and corporate sponsorships.

All 12 teams are owned by LIV now, and some players—think the more high-profile names: Mickelson, DeChambeau, Koepka—have an equity stake in the teams they captain. LIV’s goal is to develop these franchises into brands with identities and fans, and then sell them either to corporations or wealthy individuals who essentially want the latest and greatest plaything. There is no shortage of billionaires who love golf and, theoretically, would be willing to cut a check to be closer to the action. To play in the pro-am with Bryson. To host Brooks for dinner. Who knows—maybe even join Dustin and Paulina on the boat.

“Sports ownership is a high-demand space, where much of the value is derived from scarcity,” says one agent for a top-20 player. “Obviously you have to build a league with real revenues, but these are sellable commodities even without that. It’s just supply and demand. The value is driven purely by demand. This is like a real-life fantasy league.”

'If you can't see it, you can't sell it'

THEY ARE BILLED AS FANCY NEW TOYS for the mega-rich. But to achieve their full brightness, LIV Golf’s franchises need a place to shine.

To players and potential sponsors and owners, the number LIV Golf has pitched has stayed consistent, sources tell Golf Digest: a $1 billion potential valuation for a four-man club. If that sounds fantastical it’s because it’s based on something that hasn’t happened yet.

“Until significant media deals are done to cover LIV Golf,” says Patrick Rishe, the founding director of the sports business program at Washington University, “LIV team values will be stunted.”

The first three LIV Golf events have been broadcast free on YouTube, Facebook and LIV Golf’s website, and the audience numbers have been modest. The LIV Golf Invitational at Bedminster drew an average of 74,000 viewers to its Sunday final round YouTube broadcast while the PGA Tour’s simultaneous broadcast of the Rocket Mortgage Classic on CBS drew an average of 2.5 million. To a person, those around LIV Golf assert a larger broadcast agreement is near, and even its detractors acknowledge some sort of distribution deal will likely be in place before 2023. Where it is distributed, or more specifically on what platform, may have a bigger impact on LIV Golf’s sustainability than any mega-star player it signs.

The 4 Aces Team of Pat Perez, Talor Gooch, Patrick Reed and Dustin Johnson spray champagne after winning the team competition at the LIV Golf Invitational Series at Trump Bedminster.

To this point, all of the major television subsidiaries in the U.S. have shown little to no interest in LIV Golf, sources tell Golf Digest. NBC, CBS and ESPN just began a $7 billion, nine-year deal with the PGA Tour. The wild card is the FOX Corporation, which has multiple ties with LIV Golf. FOX founder and media tycoon Rubert Murdoch has a personal relationship with LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman; the two attempted to create a “World Golf Tour” in the mid-1990s, with Murdoch’s FOX Sports securing the rights. In January 2022, LIV Golf hired former FOX Sports President David Hill to help with production, and the right-leaning FOX News had a heavy presence at LIV Golf’s third event held at former President Trump’s Bedminster property. However, FOX abandoned its USGA agreement halfway through a 12-year deal, and even with the Trump connection sources say FOX Sports has not held serious discussions.

Sources say LIV Golf officials are aware immediate victory may not be had on the traditional television front in the United States and have pivoted to a streaming option. Some around LIV Golf insist streaming was the plan from the start, although multiple sources combat this notion. Nevertheless, be it orchestrated messaging or conviction that the league truly is close to a media deal, the importance of streaming was at the forefront of conversations at Trump Bedminster, with Mickelson making a case for why this is the best route to go.

“We, as a game and sport, the viewership has gone up five years to the average age, I believe, of 64, and we have to target the younger generation,” the six-time major winner said after Friday’s round at Bedminster. “I think that the way that's going to happen is two things. One, it's not a 12-hour day, having to watch golf all day. You've got a four-and-a-half-hour window. Second, when I think a streaming partner comes about, I think it's going to revolutionize the way golf is viewed, because you'll have no commercials and you'll have shot after shot after shot, and it will capture that younger generation's attention span. We'll open up a lot of opportunities to get the younger generation, which for 30 years we've tried to do and it's gone the other way.”

Streaming destinations are limited. Netflix has yet to dive into live sports. Hulu’s Disney/ESPN ties to the tour likely knock it out. Same with HBO Max and Discovery+ (Warner Bros. Discovery, which also owns Golf Digest) and Paramount Plus (CBS). Amazon Prime is getting into the sports space, but founder Jeff Bezos’ strained relationship with Saudi Arabia diminishes the prospect of a deal. Essentially, there is one home that has any subscription base to speak of, industry insiders tell Golf Digest: AppleTV.

The Apple, Inc. OTT service has not made the splash it hoped since launching in 2019, boasting only a little more than 33 million customers. (For context, Disney+ launched a week after AppleTV and claims 138 million subscribers.) To build its humble numbers, Apple has turned to live sports, signing deals with Major League Baseball and Major League Soccer in 2022, and LIV Golf could fit into that portfolio, sources say. Unlike the MLS, which signed a 10-year agreement, any LIV deal would likely be in the two- to three-year range, according to one source—enough time for LIV to prove it is a viable commodity. The buy-in would be relatively economical compared to other live sporting-event rights, both sources said, and nowhere near the neighborhood of the tour’s $7 billion, nine-year deal with NBC, ESPN and CBS. But LIV Golf isn’t necessarily looking for an infusion of cash in the same vein that other sporting leagues do with media rights. LIV is merely looking for publicity on a platform that adds validity to what it’s trying to do. (AppleTV has not responded to a request for comment.)

“Sponsor value for any team or league is driven by eyeballs, because one main purpose of any sponsor deal is generating awareness and exposure for your product. If you can't see it, you can't sell it,” Rishe says. “[It’s] incredibly hard to achieve awareness and exposure without a solid TV or streaming deal.”

But Rishe adds a caveat: “Until LIV attains a solid media-rights deal with a legacy network, this will place a de facto ceiling on the value of sponsor deals.”

Other experts agree that though media consumption is drastically evolving with more platforms and choices than ever before, a streaming-only deal will hamper LIV Golf. Most sports and especially golf are still watched in traditional, linear fashion. It’s one of the reasons sports rights are so expensive: They are one of the few programs watched as scheduled. Moreover, while LIV’s focus may be on a younger crowd, the type of companies that are involved in the golf business tend to target the older, affluent audience. Even with bringing in new sponsors that haven’t been in the space before, LIV Golf will need to tap into those existing advertisers.

“You need the high-earner male in his mid-50s. People don’t want to hear that, but that’s who buys the expensive products that are advertised on professional golf,” says Neal Pilson, former president of CBS Sports. “That’s what drives the golf ship. That’s the important sponsor support golf brings and makes it a commodity.”

LIV Golf has positioned itself as a global entity, to grab regions that the game has historically ignored. But that creates an issue in establishing a TV deal that Pilson and others in tour circles assert about the LIV Golf model.

“This won’t be the World Cup. This won’t be the British Open. People aren’t going to get up at 3 a.m. to watch in a different country,” Pilson says. “[This] could explain why [none of the traditional channels] want it. So it goes to streaming so customers can watch it on their time. Well, millennials will check their phones or computers to see the results of something that happened 12 hours ago, and once you see the results there’s a good chance you won’t watch. There are a lot of drawbacks with the streaming idea.”

Though it’s far from the affluent and older consumer that makes golf advertising so valuable despite its niche reach, the 18- to 35-year-old demo has value to marketers because if they capture that demo’s business early they can make a lifetime customer to maximize their return on marketing investment. And younger audiences do tend to gravitate towards streamers and cord-cutting services over legacy networks.

There’s the chance LIV Golf buys airtime with a channel. Or maybe LIV buys an entire channel.

But, as Rishe points out, the young audiences pose their own problem—specifically towards LIV. “Studies have shown that Gen Z and Alpha Gen consumers are more socially aware and care more about what the companies they buy from stand for,” Rishe says. “So as long as the ‘sportswashing’ undercurrent dogging LIV exists, LIV may have very little success courting corporate America.”

Of course, there’s a way around the TV issues in the U.S., Pilson explains, and it’s a thought that a number of tour officials mention as a worst-case scenario. Given the resources behind it, there’s the chance LIV Golf buys airtime with a channel, especially with many struggling to find new revenue streams in the cord-cutting era. Or maybe LIV buys an entire channel.

“I think if they do get it, it'll probably be on a cable channel that is comfortable with some negative responses [being associated with LIV Golf],” Pilson says. “That could use the money because LIV could buy its way onto a cable channel, just the way it buys the golfers to go play.”

With its own channel, LIV Golf wouldn’t have to worry about alternating its condensed, shotgun-start format and could keep it commercial-free. One person associated with LIV’s franchise efforts made the case that ad-free presentations bring value to the sponsors of each club. “Golf fans have made it known they hate the growing amount of dead time in golf broadcasts,” the source said. “By showing them more golf, our sponsors get more direct time with a consumer that is more native and agreeable to the viewing experience instead of banging them over the head with a commercial.”

It’s far from what LIV Golf wants to do. But it is a card they could play if realizing the streaming reach is not enough.

Nevertheless, in a scenario where LIV Golf has both streaming and traditional distribution behind it, the operation can start wooing legitimate sponsors, knowing their endorsements will be seen by far more than 74,000 viewers. In that scenario, the $1 billion franchise valuation, while still fantastical, doesn’t seem quite as outrageous. In that scenario, LIV Golf goes from tour nuisance to a full-on competitor.

'We're not interested in exhibition golf'

THE PGA TOUR HAS TAKEN THE HARDEST OF HARD-LINE stances against LIV Golf. The message from Ponte Vedra headquarters has been clear since rumors of the “Saudi Golf League”—the name that Monahan and the tour insist on using—began percolating in early 2020, and it underlined the unwillingness to listen to LIV’s initial proposal. The tour’s stance, to put it simply, was: This is not good for golf, and you’re either with us or you’re with them.

PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan has thus far taken a hard-line stance against LIV Golf, including the ban of players who have moved to the Saudi Arabia-backed circuit.

Richard Heathcote

The PGA Tour wasted little time this year drawing its line in the sand by informing its membership on May 10 that no releases would be granted for the first LIV event in London, and that players who participated anyway would be in violation of the PGA Tour handbook and subject to discipline. Once the first tee shots were hit at Centurion Golf Club at the same time on June 8—shotgun start and all—the PGA Tour announced immediate suspensions for all its members in the LIV field. This stance was immediately and very publicly lambasted by Norman, who called the move “anti-golfer, anti-fan and anti-competitive.” Norman and his associates have lobbed insults and taunts at the PGA Tour throughout the past couple months; the PGA Tour has been more careful in its communications and word choice, but Monahan has not wavered in his opposition to LIV’s existence.

"We want to be additive to the ecosystem," LIV's Khosla says. "We are very willing and want to continue to work with all the tours."

Despite the combativeness, LIV officials insist they’d love a meeting with PGA Tour executives.

“That has been our desire from the get-go,” Khosla says. “We want to be, and we believe we are, additive to the ecosystem. We are very willing and want to continue to work with all the tours. … I would love to [talk to the PGA Tour]. I would absolutely love to. And even if it’s just to build the relationship, I very much welcome the opportunity to do that.”

Some PGA Tour players want peace accords to take place. At the Open Championship, Jon Rahm responded to a question about the future of the Ryder Cup by expressing a desire for the bickering parties to come to the negotiation table. There was also Rory McIlroy, the de facto spokesman for the PGA Tour throughout this schism, saying at the J.P. McManus Pro-Am in July that he believed it was time for both sides to talk.

“If these people are serious about investing billions of dollars into golf, I think ultimately that’s a good thing,” McIlroy said. “But it has to be done the right way and I think if they were to invest, having it be invested inside the existing structures.”

Tour executives, however, seem to have no interest in such discussions or any parceling of the calendar. The PGA Tour declined to speak with Golf Digest for this story, but a spokesman did convey their ultimate position: “What exactly would we be discussing? The tour isn’t for sale, and we’re not interested in exhibition golf.”

Rory McIlroy has been among the most vocal supporters of the PGA Tour and has said it's worth listening to LIV Golf if it's interested in investing in a proven commodity.

Stuart Franklin/R&A

Which, of course, makes sense. The PGA Tour’s rigid stance is no doubt a strategic play, but one drawback of that approach is that it makes later cooperation that much less feasible. Instead, Monahan has vowed both privately and publicly to focus on improving his own tour. It started well before the first LIV event, when the tour devised the Player Impact Program as a way to reward its most famous players for something not directly related to their on-course performance. Despite the tour’s insistence that such a program was in the works long before, the PIP is widely seen on tour as a preemptive response to LIV—ironic, then, that five of the initial 10 winners have since left the PGA Tour for LIV Golf—though the inaugural PIP winner, Tiger Woods, reportedly turned down a $700 million to $800 million offer from LIV. And in a June press conference, Monahan outlined a number of rather significant changes to the PGA Tour’s structure, which again seemed heavily influenced by the existential challenge he faces. The general theme: more money going to the best players, a return to a calendar-year schedule and doubling down on its signature heritage events.

Starting for the 2023 FedEx Cup Playoffs, only 70 PGA Tour players—down from 125—will make it to the postseason and keep full status for the next season. The top 50 in the final FedEx Cup standings also will qualify for lucrative, no-cut “international series” events that will be held outside the U.S. in the fall. And purses for eight invitational events throughout the season are increasing to an average of $20 million per event. Rather than negotiate with LIV, the PGA Tour is banking that its proven business model, continued added investment in its own product, and the willingness to adapt—including veering away from its 72-hole format more often—will continue to make the circuit the best place to play professional golf. And that talented new prospects will fill the void left by others who might have left for LIV.

New and current stars will be paid handsomely. The PGA Tour has begun circulating a document to players that projects how much money they would’ve earned had their careers begun during the upcoming 2022-23 season based on a four percent year-over-year growth in the tour’s total comprehensive earnings. The projected figures are staggering: If Jim Furyk, who is now 52 years old, began his rookie season in 2022-23 and had the same 28-year career—including 17 wins—his total compensation from the PGA Tour would exceed $620 million. (Furyk’s current actual earnings are $71.5 million.) To sample a few others: Rory McIlroy would be at $373 million; Jordan Spieth at $240 million; Brandt Snedeker at $180 million; Ryan Palmer at $100 million; Keegan Bradley at $97 million; Jason Gore at $21 million.

But those projections do not include any guaranteed money—instead, they are calculated by applying future payment structures to past earnings.

“All of this money we’re projecting will be earned on a competitive basis,” the PGA Tour executive said, “and that’s a hallmark of the PGA Tour. Even with the PIP program, there are different components, but you’ve earned those based on how you’ve competed.”

Of course, this is a projection of a tomorrow that is under tour control. It also must reckon with a future it doesn’t fully control.

The next battlefront

ON AUG. 3, MICKELSON, DECHAMBEAU AND NINE OTHER LIV GOLF MEMBERS filed a lawsuit against the tour, believing the suspensions they received for defecting constituted antitrust actions . It is a lawsuit the PGA Tour has expected and feels confident about being in the right. History is on the tour’s side. It has successfully defended itself against antitrust claims from Morris Communications Corporation regarding the tour’s limitations on real-time scoring, and it prevailed in former tour player Harry Toscano’s Clayton Act antitrust lawsuit against the Senior PGA Tour. It also won a class-action lawsuit brought by caddies against the tour using antitrust and intellectual property claims.

Phil Mickelson is among the LIV players who brought an antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour for not allowing them to play.

Jonathan Ferrey/LIV Golf

This is a different battle, and the tour is also staring down an antitrust probe from the Department of Justice. It’s worth noting the Federal Trade Commision concluded after a four-year investigation in the early 1990s that the tour had violated antitrust laws—partially due to the rule stipulating permission for a conflicting-event release—and recommended federal action. But no action was ultimately taken, a circumstance credited to the work of then-PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem (a lawyer himself who worked in President Jimmy Carter’s administration) and the tour’s lobbying mastery. Coincidentally, this clashed with Norman’s first try to challenge the PGA Tour through his attempt to launch the World Tour. This time, the tour is facing an entity that can match, if not usurp, its lobbying efforts. This time, the tour could lose.

The battle will be fought on multiple fronts. There are players who have not jumped but will, both after the FedEx Cup and Presidents Cup, along with those who defect after 2023 or 2024. While the first wave of LIV members mostly constituted injury-prone players, rank-and-file names, those past 40 and maligned personalities, LIV likely will sign those who are young, transcendent and marketable.

There are multiple sponsors, sources tell Golf Digest, that aren’t exactly thrilled with the tour’s handling of the LIV situation. Though the new media-rights deal accounts for most of the added money in bonuses and purses, the tour has gone to companies looking to aid its new fall series, and the reception has thus far been cold, sources say. Existing partners, upset at sponsoring tournaments with depleted fields, are not crazy about giving the tour more money. There is a fear in tour circles that if the circuit pushes too hard, these companies could eventually go to the other side.

Then there is the tour’s own media rights. Its new agreement started in 2022 and runs to 2030. Concerns that CBS, NBC or ESPN would want to renegotiate or invalidate its deal if the tour continues to lose a number of its marquee attractions are fair, although multiple sources with these stakeholders say, at this point, they are not worried about a diluted product and are in lockstep with the tour. Of greater worry for the tour are potential deals down the road. These media agreements are worked out years in advance, and sources tell Golf Digest the current deal was mostly finished by the middle of 2019. A LIV Golf circuit that is fully operational in 2025—and one that has a defined future—could wreak havoc on anything the tour hopes for in its new media framework.

The tour’s position against LIV is not just public posturing; those around the tour insist Monahan and his staff believe what he says to be true. But players, agents and others in the industry see how the tour is under siege and envision that peace—or at least a detente—will have to be struck to stave off a watered-down tour. So what would cooperation between LIV and the PGA Tour look like?

Make no mistake, there are reasons why cooperation might work for both sides. LIV Golf, which seemingly holds momentum, gets what it initially wanted: acceptance into the current framework. Saudi Arabia and Vision 2030 receive a blessing from a globally recognized institution that pushes them closer to the perception of a modernized culture. LIV Golf members get to keep the enormous sums they made and get the freedom they once had on the tour to pick their schedules. Not for nothing, it keeps the door open to play in major championships and Ryder Cup—a path that seemingly is starting to close and one that could be shut completely if LIV doesn’t receive OWGR accreditation. (As one Augusta National source relayed after the filing of the Mickelson lawsuit: “Know a good way to get curbed by ANGC? Bring ANGC into a lawsuit.”)

For the tour, things are messier. Yes, the LIV Golf financial resources would help subsidize the tour and its purses, the membership would be made whole again and a potential PGA Tour-LIV agreement would be perceived less of a merger and more of an acquisition. But there is the reality of weakening a previously strong stance and the optics that come with it. Would player suspensions—assuming the tour hasn’t lost the lawsuit—be dropped? How would it handle blowback from its existing members, who watched LIV members cash huge paydays and ultimately be allowed back while they missed out on similar opportunities out of loyalty? Even in a treaty there will be casualties.

In the days after the LIV golfers filed their suit, the tone from PGA Tour players toward their peers who jumped to LIV changed. While once respectful of the decision made to move on, there was more venom toward them as they went ahead with a legal challenge. 

“Their vision is cherry-picking what events they want to play on the PGA Tour," Billy Horschel, a former PGA Tour Policy Board member, said. "Obviously, that would be the higher World Ranking events and bigger purses. It’s frustrating. They made a decision to leave, and they should go follow their employer. I know there are guys a lot more angry and frustrated about it than me.”

Another victim in this fight could be the postseason race on the DP World Tour (formerly European Tour). While LIV Golf’s 2023 season will be spread across the calendar, multiple sources lay out a scenario in which the PGA Tour ultimately allows space for LIV Golf to operate during the fall, effectively taking the place of the yet-to-be-announced international series. LIV has already telegraphed it’s not opposed to this time frame: Five of its eight events this year occur after the FedEx Cup Playoffs have concluded. The tour would still use autumn to provide for those outside the top 50 to wrestle for following-year status, conceding its stars would play elsewhere in September, October and November. It’s a tough swallow for the tour, yet better to lose them during the football portion of the sports calendar than for the entire year. Unfortunately, the DP World Tour’s Race to Dubai takes place in November, and while it could survive the PGA Tour’s three-event international series, a LIV Golf fall itinerary likely involves a minimum of five to six events. Moving the Race to Dubai to the end of summer would coincide with the tour playoffs. The DP World Tour already faces the knock of being a feeder circuit; a potential retrofitting would compound that stigma.

Although it’s a bit more far-fetched, there’s also the chance for LIV Golf competitions to be held during the tour’s season. There are a handful of tournaments that have struggled with sponsorship for years that could be vulnerable, and the fact that the WGCs having gone from four to one raises the question if LIV could take over the Match Play. There would be matters to sort out—who qualifies for the LIV events, how TV/streaming deals would work, and would the events be co-sanctioned.

The alternative is this: A professional golf landscape that looks a lot like professional boxing—a realm with multiple organizations and almost zero unification that has turned a once-popular sport into a niche entertainment. The game’s attention could be divided between a league that has popular figures but tournaments that border on exhibition, up against a traditional power that has real competition but has lost some of its most high-profile competitors. As one major championship official opined, “The PGA Tour could become what the Euro Tour is now, and LIV Golf would be like the Pro Bowl—big names, horrible watch.”

In regards to majors, there’s the theory that the Masters, PGA Championship, U.S. Open and Open Championship could be strengthened in a divided game, the already heightened weeks gaining importance if they’re the only four occasions when the entire sport gathers. But if the majors back the PGA Tour and restrict LIV Golf members from participating, they too will lose weight.

Should the DP World Tour and PGA of America stay true to their LIV threats, the Ryder Cup could be lost. Fair or not, the onus is on the PGA Tour to keep it together. Most of LIV’s members have already shown they don’t care about consequences, at least enough to prevent them from padding their bank accounts. The tour didn’t start the schism, yet it may be the only thing standing in the way of preventing the sport from ripping in two.

After the beta test

THEY SEE WHAT YOU SEE. The misspellings of player names, getting their members’ nationalities wrong, the press-conference disasters. For an organization trying its best to rid itself of sportswashing accusations, LIV Golf has been unable to put its best foot forward without tripping over the other through its first three events.

But it’s worth remembering this inaugural season is a trial run of sorts, and not just for those inside the ropes. Prior to the weekend at Trump Bedminster, one LIV liaison said the summer had been “revealing.” This person put the LIV workers into two groups: the adults and the children. The children are the ones making mistake after mistake, or they took a LIV offer as an early retirement package thinking little would be involved. The adults … they see what LIV has already done and what it could be once the children are sent packing. “If everyone would stop ragging on [LIV], you could see how good it can be,” the consultant said. Eventually, this person maintained, LIV would get things right.

The event at Bedminster was eventually won by Henrik Stenson. To grab the millions at LIV, the Swede had to surrender the Ryder Cup captaincy, a role and responsibility that was once viewed as priceless. For him to win millions, Europe had to lose its Ryder Cup captain. His decision to join was a zero-sum game. You didn’t have to squint to see the symmetry.

Here's why the PGA Tour just merged with LIV Golf

The PGA Tour announced Tuesday it would merge with LIV Golf, a Saudi-backed men's golf organization that formed last year to compete with the PGA.

News of the merger sent shock waves through the sports world and even reached the highest echelons of the U.S. government, after a reporter sought comment from the Biden administration about the Saudi government's taking such a large stake in men's golf. Biden spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre declined to comment.

Here's what it all means.

What is LIV Golf?

LIV was created in 2022 by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) alongside two of the world's most prominent players, Phil Mickelson and Greg Norman, and others.

Norman was appointed CEO, but it was Mickelson who helped LIV come into existence. Mickelson accused the PGA Tour of not fairly compensating players for things like highlight clips and other media rights , accusing the organization of "obnoxious greed."

Eventually, Mickelson helped persuade 48 players to abandon the PGA Tour for LIV.

The merger has shown that Saudi Arabia and its interests cannot be isolated, veteran U.S. diplomat Richard N. Haass said.

“It's not as big as the Biden visit or agreement with Iran , and it doesn't offset their recent failure to raise oil prices,” said Haass, the president of the Council on Foreign Relations . "But it does send the signal they are a player who cannot be ignored."

Why did the PGA Tour initially bar players from participating in LIV?

The PGA Tour immediately viewed LIV Golf as a direct competitor — and many in the golf world agreed, often referring to it as a “breakaway league.”

So the Tour decided to force players to pick a side, creating harsh divisions in the golf world.

PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan also seemed to disparage the presence of the Saudis in LIV, asking rhetorically in a June 2022 interview , “Have you ever had to apologize for being a member of the PGA Tour?”

And in response to a lawsuit from players who'd joined LIV and said the PGA Tour had retaliated against them, lawyers for the organization condemned LIV as “a strategy by the Saudi government to use sports in an effort to improve its reputation for human rights abuses and other atrocities.”

So why is the PGA Tour merging with LIV?

The two leagues ended up suing each other — but acrimony and lawsuits ultimately proved bad business for the PGA Tour, which made the calculated decision to endure the blowback of turning 180 degrees in exchange for a unified effort with its former rival.

Lawsuits filed by suspended players and a federal probe into possible antitrust actions by the PGA Tour against LIV may also be moot in the wake of Tuesday's announcement.

"We've recognized that together we can have a far greater impact on this game than we can working apart," Monahan told CNBC, seated next to his LIV counterpart, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of the Saudi sovereign wealth fund. "And I give Yasir great credit for coming to the table, coming to the discussions with an open heart and open mind."

Despite the vast financial resources at its disposal thanks to its Saudi backing, LIV had failed to secure major TV deals to broadcast its events, which were often instead relegated to livestreams on YouTube.

With its commercial viability in doubt, LIV officials may have decided it was better to cut their losses and approach the PGA Tour with an offering of peace — and money.

How much money is involved? What are the financial incentives on both sides?

Terms of the merger haven't been disclosed, but LIV Golf players were reportedly being promised eight- and nine-figure earnings to join the league, thanks to the Saudi Public Investment Fund, which is worth about $676 billion.

CNBC's David Faber, who helped break Tuesday's news with an exclusive interview with Monahan and Al-Rumayyan, said the PIF plans to invest "billions" into the newly formed entity while it retains a minority stake.

How will major golf events be affected?

They won't.

The Masters, the U.S. Open, the British Open (now known as The Open) and the PGA Championship (which, despite its name, isn't actually owned by the PGA Tour) are all separate entities from the PGA Tour.

Nor does the Tour control the biennial team-based Ryder Cup tournament — though heading into this year's event, there were questions about whether U.S. team captain Zach Johnson would forgo selecting LIV members.

Have there been mergers in professional sports before?

All four of North America's major professional team sports leagues have some kind of merger in their histories, most notably the NFL-AFL union that led to the Super Bowl.

The first World Series in 1903 , the 1976 NBA-ABA deal and the NHL's 1979 takeover of the upstart WHA , though, all pale in comparison to the geopolitical stage where the PGA Tour-LIV drama played out.

What are people in golf saying?

As expected, reaction to the stunning deal ran the gamut — from LIV backers' spiking the ball to 9/11 survivors' criticizing the PGA Tour for merging with the Saudi-backed LIV, which they likened to “terrorists,” with others resigned to money's simply ruling the day.

Former President Donald Trump typed in all caps on Truth Social, boasting that he predicted that the PGA Tour would have to come to terms with LIV.

A key Sept. 11 support group, 9/11 Families United, said it was "shocked and deeply offended" and claimed the merger is "bankrolled by billions in sportswashing money from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia." It added: "Saudi operatives played a key role in the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and now it is bankrolling all of professional golf."

George Washington University sports marketing professor Lisa Delpy Neirotti verbally shrugged her shoulders and said the deal shouldn't have been a shock.

"I ask my students how to spell the word 'sports?' It's m-o-n-e-y," she said. "Fans have a short memory. They really want to see their stars. They want to see a better product."

Rob Wile is a breaking business news reporter for NBC News Digital.

David K. Li is a senior breaking news reporter for NBC News Digital.

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PGA Tour, DP World Tour and LIV Golf agree to stunning merger

The three tours have announced that LIV players can re-apply for membership of the PGA and DP World Tour at the end of the 2023 season; all litigation between the three tours has also been ended

Wednesday 7 June 2023 13:50, UK

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The PGA Tour, DP World Tour and LIV Golf have stunned the sporting world by announcing they are merging to form "a new collectively owned" entity.

The shock announcement comes after a year of unprecedented disruption in the men's professional game following the launch of the Saudi-backed LIV Golf circuit.

The new entity has not been named yet but the deal signals a new era of cooperation "to unify the game of golf, on a global basis". However, on Wednesday Bloomberg News reported the US Justice Department would review the deal, citing antitrust concerns.

• Reaction to shock merger between PGA Tour and LIV golf
• Latest golf news

It has also been announced:

• LIV golfers who were suspended indefinitely by the PGA and DP World Tour will be able to re-apply for membership from the end of the 2023 season
• All lawsuits between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and LIV golf will be ended
• Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, which funded LIV Golf's emergence, will make a capital investment into the combined entity as part of the agreement "to facilitate its growth and success".
• A "comprehensive evaluation of LIV Golf to determine how best to integrate team golf into the professional game" will take place.
• LIV Golf's 2023 schedule will continue as planned

How have golfers reacted?

Phil Mickelson, who became a de-facto spokesperson for the LIV Tour, tweeted: "Awesome news".

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Awesome day today 😊 https://t.co/qUwVJiydym — Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) June 6, 2023

Some PGA Tour players, including two-time major winner Collin Morikawa, appeared to suggest that they discovered the news via social media at the point it broke.

Morikawa tweeted: "I love finding out morning news on Twitter."

Reaction to shock PGA, DP World Tour, LIV Golf merger

PGA Tour Commisioner: Historic day for golf

When is the US Open live on Sky? Key TV times

Latest golf news and videos

I love finding out morning news on Twitter — Collin Morikawa (@collin_morikawa) June 6, 2023

Nothing like finding out through Twitter that we’re merging with a tour that we said we’d never do that with. — Mackenzie Hughes (@MacHughesGolf) June 6, 2023

Very curious how many people knew this deal was happening. About 5-7 people? Player run organization right? 🤷🏻‍♂️ — Michael S. Kim (@Mike_kim714) June 6, 2023

Was having quite the nice practice session this morning too pic.twitter.com/qWBKuM2yHO — Justin Thomas (@JustinThomas34) June 6, 2023

The move was announced to players in a letter from PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan on Tuesday.

It read: "Today is a momentous day for your organization and the game of golf as a whole.

"The PGA Tour - your Tour - is leading the formation of a new commercial entity to unify golf, one that sees the end of the disruption and distraction that has divided the men's professional game for the better part of three years."

The power struggle that embroiled golf

The LIV Golf circuit - which features 54-hole events across three days, with no cuts, instead of the traditional 72-hole format - launched in 2022 and has lured big-name players away from the rival circuits with staggering sums of prize money for every golfer.

This new entity was bankrolled by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) - owners of Newcastle United - and critics accused it of being a vehicle for the country to attempt to improve its reputation in the face of criticism of its human rights record.

Former world No 1 Dustin Johnson and Ryder Cup legends Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood were among the most notable names to commit initially, with Phil Mickelson added to that list soon after along with other high-profile names like recent PGA champion Brooks Koepka and last year's Open winner Cameron Smith.

Animosity grew between the factions, with Mickelson often speaking as the de facto player leader for LIV and directing accusations of collusion at the PGA Tour and other governing bodies. On the other side, Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy was often at the forefront defending the PGA Tour and criticising LIV.

The decision to merge comes less than two weeks before the third major championship of the men's golf season, the US Open. For parts of 2022 and 2023, the majors were the only times that LIV Golf players were included in the same field as PGA and DP World Tour players.

PGA Tour commissioner: Historic day for golf

PGA Tour commissioner Monahan, who had previously ruled out an agreement with LIV , said: "After two years of disruption and distraction, this is a historic day for the game we all know and love.

"This transformational partnership recognises the immeasurable strength of the PGA Tour's history, legacy and pro-competitive model and combines with it the DP World Tour and LIV - including the team golf concept - to create an organisation that will benefit golf's players, commercial and charitable partners and fans."

Keith Pelley, DP World Tour chief executive, added the deal "marks the end of the division in our game and the start of a new chapter in its evolution".

PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan said: "We are committed to unifying, promoting and growing the game of golf around the world and offering the highest-quality product to the many millions of long-time fans globally, while cultivating new fans.

The Board of Directors of the new PGA Tour-LIV Golf commercial entity will be chaired by Yasser Al-Rumayyan - the Newcastle chairman and PIF chief — Rob Harris (@RobHarris) June 6, 2023

"There is no question that the LIV model has been positively transformative for golf. We believe there are opportunities for the game to evolve while also maintaining its storied history and tradition. This partnership represents the best opportunity to extend and increase the impact of golf for all. We look forward to collaborating with Jay and Keith to bring the best version of the game to communities around the world."

PGA Tour players call for Monahan to resign

Monahan met with players at the Canadian Open on Tuesday evening and one player who was part of that meeting revealed many were calling for the PGA commissioner to resign.

Tour Advisory Council member Johnson Wagner said: "It was contentious, there were many moments where certain players were calling for new leadership of the PGA Tour and even got a couple of standing ovations.

"I think the most powerful moment was when a player quoted commissioner Monahan from last year when he said as long as I'm commissioner of the PGA Tour, no player that took LIV money will ever play the PGA Tour again. It just seems like a lot of backtracking.

"I think as we step away from this and see it unfold in the coming weeks I think we will get more clarity. There was a lot of anger in that room from players."

Wagner also said Monahan had not revealed how players who had joined LIV would be reintegrated back onto the PGA Tour.

Wagner said: "He didn't specifically answer a lot of questions about what the path would be like for LIV players coming in in the season of 2024. He kind of left it up to his discretion and going to go by the PGA Tour rules and regulations that are set in place so a lot of players didn't like that.

"As far as how Jay handled it, I would say he didn't directly answer a ton of questions but he kept his calm and his cool."

Monahan: I'll be called a hypocrite | 'Players who stayed on PGA Tour made right decision'

Speaking to the media on Tuesday evening, Monahan explained why his position on receiving money from Saudi Arabia had changed and admitted the players and the public would label him as a "hypocrite" for his about turn.

"We've done everything we can within our control to improve and grow the PGA Tour, and they have launched LIV; they've proceeded with LIV; they've made progress with LIV," he said.

"But ultimately it was looking at the broader picture and saying that I don't think it's right or sustainable to have this tension in our sport, and to be able to organise and orient this in a way where, again, we're in a control position, we have an investor, a great and world-class investor, and I recognise everything that I've said in the past and in my prior positions.

"I recognise that people are going to call me a hypocrite. Anytime I said anything, I said it with the information that I had at that moment, and I said it based on someone that's trying to compete for the PGA Tour and our players. I accept those criticisms.

"But circumstances do change. I think that in looking at the big picture and looking at it this way, that's what got us to this point."

Monahan also said he believes those players who remained loyal to the PGA Tour in the face of LIV had made the correct decision to do so.

He said: "You know, it probably didn't seem this way to them, but as I looked to our players, those players that have been loyal to the PGA Tour, I'm confident that the move that they made was the right decision. They've helped rearchitect the future of the PGA Tour. They've moved us to a more pro-competitive model.

"We have significantly invested in our business in '23. We're going to do so in '24. As we finalise this process, I think any player that has stayed is going to realise that the money that they're going to make, the strength of this platform, all the things that we talk about are going to put them in a really strong position. They're going to win. They're going to continue to grow, and we're in a control position on their behalf as we move forward in this structure."

Was Greg Norman aware of merger?

A key name absent from the press release announcing the merger was Greg Norman, LIV Golf's CEO and one of the lead people in the Saudi-backed Tour's creation.

He has been the target of a lot of criticism from those on the PGA Tour side and Al-Rumayyan told CBS he only informed Norman about the merger moments before making it public.

"I made a call just before this and of course he is a partner with us, and all the stakeholders that we have with us they had the call right before this interview," Al-Rumayyan said.

A great day in global golf for players and fans alike. The journey continues!! — Greg Norman (@SharkGregNorman) June 6, 2023

Sky Sports golf expert Dame Laura Davies said of that revelation: "It sounds like it's been a bit cloak and dagger - if Greg Norman didn't know about it then if I was Greg Norman then I would feel like one of the losers in this deal because you would have thought he would have been at the forefront."

Norman tweeted his reaction to the news late on Tuesday evening, saying: "A great day in global golf for players and fans alike. The journey continues!!"

Pelley clarifies European Ryder Cup team selection criteria

A big question to come out of the announcement of the merger was how it might affect selection for this September's Ryder Cup teams in Rome.

DP World Tour chief executive Pelley explained to Sky Sports News the criteria for selection for the European team, saying: "There's only two criteria to be a Ryder Cup player - you have to be European and you have to be a DP World Tour member. Those are the criteria.

"If you're not a DP World Tour member, you can't play in the Ryder Cup."

European stalwarts Garcia, Poulter, Westwood and Henrik Stenson all resigned from the DP World Tour in May following further sanctions on players who competed in LIV Golf events last year without permission.

Pelley said of the quartet: "They're not members. They would have to be reinstated. Maybe they will request reinstatement but we will have to see."

Coltart: I'm absolutely in shock | 'McIlroy must think what was the effort for?'

Sky Sports Golf's Andrew Coltart:

"I'm absolutely in shock. I think everybody has just been taken aback by this. Nobody saw it coming.

"I'm left scratching my head. It is [remarkable the players have found out at the same time] because you really would expect, being a player-run organisation, that the players would have an opportunity for some input in that.

"There is going to be an incredible amount of questions asked, but I'm not sure how many answers we'll get at this particular stage.

"There's no doubt it will leave a bit of a sour taste in some people's mouths. But I don't necessarily think this whole thing is a bad thing.

"Everybody has been crying out for the top players in the world to play together - and when those players have competed in the same event (The Masters and PGA Championship), it has added a bit of spice."

[On Rory McIlroy]: "He's given his heart and soul for the last two years, arguably to the detriment of his own golf game, for the support of the DP World Tour and PGA Tour, and I have to question whether he knew much of this.

"But there's absolutely no doubt that if he did, it would have been an incredible distraction, and he would have wondered what was all the time and effort for to get to this point."

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What is LIV Golf? Explaining the PGA Tour competitor Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau and Phil Mickelson are joining

The PGA Tour and LIV Golf have agreed to merge operations under common ownership.

That golf thing you’ve heard rumblings about for a while is finally here. Maybe you’ve heard it’s controversial, or that some big-name players — Phil Mickelson? Brooks Koepka? Dustin Johnson? Bryson DeChambeau? — are involved, or just that a lot of cash is on the table. But now it’s time to start thinking about whether or not you need to care about it.

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The first LIV Golf International Series event tees off Thursday. Here’s what you need to know:

What is LIV?

The LIV Golf International Series is an upstart league led by Australian former golf star Greg Norman meant to challenge the longstanding reign of the PGA Tour. The endeavor is controversial for multiple reasons, including that it’s backed by Saudi financing and plans to make stops at two Donald Trump-owned courses.

The eight-tournament circuit will feature seven regular-season events and one team championship in late October. Play begins in London on Thursday. The remaining stops are in Portland, Ore., New Jersey, Boston, Chicago, Bangkok, Saudi Arabia and Miami.

LIV is backed by an investment arm, LIV Golf Investments, of which Norman is the CEO. 

Why is it called ‘LIV’?

LIV is the Roman numeral for 54, the number of holes in each tournament (more on that next). It is also the score a player shoots if they birdie every hole on a par-72 course. 

What’s the format?

Each tournament will be a three-round, 54-hole contest with 48 players and no cuts. The events feature shotgun starts (every player starts at the same time, but at a different hole) and a team element.

The individual event will be scored as usual, by stroke play.

For the team event, players will be divided into 12 four-person groups based on a draft the week of each tournament. Each team will have a LIV-appointed captain who will select the other three teammates.

The best two stroke play scores over the first two rounds will count for each team. For the final round, the best three scores will count. The team with the lowest overall score after 54 holes will be named the team winner. The captain will set the lineup each week and choose the scores that will count. 

The team championship will be a seeded four-day, four-round, match-play knock-out.

Who are the most notable names at the first tournament?

Dustin Johnson headlined the initial field  for the inaugural event in London. Johnson’s participation came as a surprise after saying in February he would not participate in the LIV Golf circuit and would stick to the PGA Tour. 

On June 6, however, organizers announced that Phil Mickelson will tee off in London . T he six-time major winner is taking a leave of absence from the PGA Tour after apologizing for controversial comments he made in support of the rebel series and has not competed since the Saudi International in early February.

Talor Gooch, Matt Jones, Sergio Garcia, Kevin Na, Louis Oosthuizen, Ian Poulter, Hudson Swafford and Lee Westwood are among the other top names. Rumors are swirling that Rickie Fowler could also join.

Who else is joining late?

One-time major winners Bryson DeChambeau and Patrick Reed will join LIV Golf in time for its second event, at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club in North Plains, Ore., according to multiple reports. Brooks Koepka, a four-time major winner and former world No. 1, is also reportedly planning to play in Oregon. That event will be the first LIV tournament in the United States.

Bryson's agent says he's joined LIV & will play its next event: "Bryson has always been an innovator. Having the opportunity to get in on the ground floor of something unique had always been intriguing to him. Professional golf as we know it is changing & it's happening quickly." — Adam Schupak (@AdamSchupak) June 8, 2022

On June 2, DeChambeau said he wasn’t in a place in his career where he could “risk” joining the LIV series. Reed withdrew from the RBC Canadian Open, a PGA Tour event, on June 7.

DeChambeau and Reed are ranked No. 28 and 36 in the world, respectively, as of June 5. DeChambeau won the 2020 U.S. Open, while Reed claimed his lone major victory at the 2018 Masters.

Could these players be kicked off the PGA Tour and not be in majors?

It was unclear in the weeks leading up to the series exactly what discipline PGA Tour members could face over their participation in LIV. But as the inaugural event teed off in London, the PGA Tour announced that LIV players are suspended and no longer eligible to participate in tournament play.

The Tour issued a statement on June 1 reiterating that members had not been authorized to participate in the series and that those who “violate the Tournament Regulations are subject to disciplinary action.” Golfers were told on May 10 that regulations barred them from participating, the PGA Tour said.

Johnson, Garcia, Oosthuizen and Na were among those who preemptively resigned from the PGA Tour rather than face the potential discipline. A former world No. 1 with 24 career PGA Tour victories, Johnson said he still hoped to play in the majors, but he’ll now be ineligible for the Ryder Cup.

“I can’t answer for the majors but hopefully they’re going to allow us to play,” Johnson said. “Obviously I’m exempt for the majors so I plan on playing there unless I hear otherwise.”

BREAKING🚨: Dustin Johnson RESIGNS from the PGA Tour The golfer is now ineligible to play in the Ryder Cup. pic.twitter.com/LLmlmIDKmF — Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) June 7, 2022

“If I exercise my right to choose where and when I play golf, then I cannot remain a PGA Tour player without facing disciplinary proceedings and legal action from the PGA Tour,” Na, the world No. 33, wrote on social media . 

Mickelson had not resigned from the PGA Tour before the sanctions and told Sports Illustrated he is looking forward to playing in the U.S. Open (June 16-19). He intends to continue playing in majors, he said in a statement announcing he was joining LIV Golf.

Dominoes have started to fall with sponsors, too. Royal Bank of Canada became the first sponsor to publicly pull its support from LIV Golf participants, ending its relationship with Johnson and fellow Tour golfer Graeme McDowell.

The bank sponsors the RBC Canadian Open in Ontario, which is scheduled for the same weekend as the LIV opener, as well as the RBC Heritage in Hilton Head, S.C. in April.

Read this story for ongoing coverage of how the majors are handling LIV players.

Why were they allowed to play in the US Open?

What are other stars saying.

Former world No. 1 Rory McIlroy said that LIV is “not something (he wants) to participate in” and implied that those doing so are in it “purely for money” during his news conference at the 2022 Canadian Open. World No. 6 Justin Thomas also weighed in on the topic, saying that he’s “disappointed” and wishes Johnson and others who have joined “wouldn’t have done it.”

How much money is involved?

A total of $255 million will be awarded in prize money across the eight LIV tournaments. Each of the regular-season events will have a $25 million purse — $20 million for individual prizes and $5 million for the top three teams. 

The top three individuals after the seven regular-season events — among those who play a minimum of four events — will also share an additional $30 million ($18 million, $8 million and $4 million each). Finally, another $50 million will be awarded at the team match-play championship. 

A key component is that no competitor will go home empty-handed from a tournament. The winner gets $4 million and the last-place finisher is set to earn $120,000. (For comparison: the U.S. Open, the biggest purse of the four majors, awards $12.5 million in prize money, with the winner getting $2.25 million.)

And there’s more than just prize money on the table in LIV. Johnson was reportedly offered a $125 million contract just to state his commitment to the new league. Norman told The Washington Post that LIV offered Tiger Woods a “mind-blowingly enormous” amount (think high nine digits) to sign on. 

Norman said LIV Golf Investments is aiming to put a total of $2 billion into the sport between 2023 and 2025, eventually increasing the number of events to 14. 

How long is the schedule and does it conflict with the PGA Tour?

The schedule runs from June through October and does not conflict with any existing majors. However, the first three LIV Golf tournaments do coincide with already scheduled PGA Tour events on the 2021-22 calendar.

Do we think this is sustainable?

Hugh Kellenberger, golf senior managing editor: The Public Investment Fund, Saudi Arabia’s sovereign-wealth fund, has essentially limitless resources to make this work. LIV Golf is happening, and will continue to happen. The question is whether or not it’s a direct competitor to the PGA Tour, or a side-show event that is happening but not in direct conflict.

There will inevitably be lawsuits that will determine a professional golfer’s ability to play on both tours. If those suits are successful from a LIV perspective, then just remember that no one has ever gone broke betting on pro athletes taking the largest paychecks imaginable. If they’re not, LIV’s future will largely depend on it luring more names on the level of a Johnson.

How does the PGA Tour need to respond?

Kellenberger: Johnson, Na and others found a convenient loophole, it seems, by resigning their membership — they quit before the PGA Tour could try to suspend them, essentially. Mickelson kept the door open by refusing to follow their path.

The first question is how the PGA Tour responds to Mickelson, because that’ll influence the next group through the door, including DeChambeau and Reed. Without decisive action from PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan that establishes very clearly a real consequence beyond the public relations blow, DeChambeau and Reed will not be the last to take the blood money.

Wait, are these goofy team names real?

Today in Not The Onion, we have 42-year-old Sergio Garcia captaining a team of fellow golfers called the “Fire Balls.” This is real life. pic.twitter.com/s4566HYmr2 — Dan Rapaport (@Daniel_Rapaport) June 7, 2022

How to watch

LIV is currently slated to stream on YouTube, Facebook and LIVGolf.com; it doesn’t presently have a U.S.-based broadcast partner. The Athletic’ s Richard Deitsch said he can’t see any network with a longtime relationship with the PGA Tour (CBS, NBC, ESPN, etc.) going anywhere near this series. Companies like Fox and Turner may not go for it in the near term with little proof of concept.

Arlo White, the former longtime play-by-play voice of NBC’s Premier League coverage, is serving as the lead broadcaster, joined in the booth by Jerry Foltz and Dom Boulet. The broadcast team will be completed by on-course commentator Su-Ann Heng and on-course reporter Troy Mullins.

The London event tees off on June 9 at 2 p.m. local time (9 a.m. ET).

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'I still hate LIV': Golf's civil war is over, but how will pro golfers move on?

Bill Chappell

Rory McIlroy started defense of his title at the RBC Canadian Open in Toronto on Thursday. But before play began, he was peppered with questions about the PGA Tour's new merger that ends its spat with LIV Golf. Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images hide caption

Rory McIlroy started defense of his title at the RBC Canadian Open in Toronto on Thursday. But before play began, he was peppered with questions about the PGA Tour's new merger that ends its spat with LIV Golf.

For months, Rory McIlroy walked the ramparts of the PGA Tour fortress, besieged by the Saudi-funded LIV Golf. He and other holdouts spoke about staying true to the PGA's traditions, even as their peers accepted millions and millions of dollars in incentive money and guaranteed payouts to join its rival.

Now, McIlroy says, he feels like "a sacrificial lamb," after the PGA Tour made a deal to merge with LIV Golf's backers , the Saudi sovereign wealth fund.

That's not all he's feeling: McIlroy, ranked the world's No. 3, still sees LIV Golf as the enemy.

"I still hate LIV. Like, I hate it. I hope it goes away and I will fully expect that it does," he said.

In a stunning move, PGA Tour agrees to merge with its Saudi-backed rival, LIV Golf

If he sets his personal feelings aside, McIlroy acknowledged, the deal might prove to be a good thing for pro golf. But he also said many details still need to be worked out — from how to compensate golfers who stuck with the PGA, to how to handle pros who want to return from LIV.

PGA players are "furious"

"Players on the PGA Tour are furious," after standing on principles and refusing to accept Saudi money, Brendan Porath, co-host of The Shotgun Start golf podcast, told NPR this week .

"Rory McIlroy passed up an upfront sum of, it could have been $400-$500 million, because he did not like where the money was from and he wanted to defend the status quo," Porath said.

When McIlroy spoke to reporters on Wednesday ahead of the Canadian Open, many were eager to hear his comments about the blockbuster merger between the PGA Tour, Europe's DP World Tour and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund.

"I love finding out morning news on Twitter," U.S. golfer Collin Morikawa said this week, as the PGA Tour announced its merger with a Saudi fund. He's seen here at right, with Jon Rahm of Spain at the Memorial Tournament in Dublin, Ohio, on Friday. Dylan Buell/Getty Images hide caption

"I love finding out morning news on Twitter," U.S. golfer Collin Morikawa said this week, as the PGA Tour announced its merger with a Saudi fund. He's seen here at right, with Jon Rahm of Spain at the Memorial Tournament in Dublin, Ohio, on Friday.

A players' meeting after the announcement was "heated," McIlroy said in Toronto. In public remarks, several players are airing frustrations with the secrecy of the deal.

"Nothing like finding out through Twitter that we're merging with a tour that we said we'd never do that with," golfer Mackenzie Hughes said .

Not every player is furious. Padraig Harrington, a PGA loyalist who recently revealed he turned down a chance to join LIV , welcomed news of the merger. While he was surprised the deal came together so quickly, Harrington said, the PGA Tour was right to act, as pressure on the tour would have continued to build.

"Definitely in the financial interest of both sides," he said. "Definitely in the financial interest of the players even though some of those who gain will feel like they're losing."

LIV's ties to Saudi money are a flashpoint

"Critics accuse the LIV players of taking blood money due to the Saudis' abysmal human rights record," as NPR's Tom Goldman reported after LIV Golf launched last summer .

Detractors cite Saudi Arabian nationals' prominent role in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and the U.S. assessment that Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman approved the operation leading to the brutal murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.

The merger fed accusations of "sportswashing" — that the PGA Tour is allowing a wealthy and oppressive regime to improve its global image not by atoning for its misdeeds, but by attaching itself to pro golf.

Many are also calling PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan a hypocrite, noting that he said one year ago, "I think you'd have to be living under a rock to not know there are significant implications" to players aligning themselves with Saudi Arabia.

The Canadian Open is this week. Here is what PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan said at that event one year ago. pic.twitter.com/CtmnK74kbd — Brendan Porath (@BrendanPorath) June 6, 2023

Invoking families who lost loved ones on 9/11, he added, "I would ask any player that has left or any player that would ever consider leaving, have you ever had to apologize for being a member of the PGA Tour?"

When asked about those comments, McIlroy stated, "I said it to Jay yesterday: 'You've galvanized everyone against something, and that thing that you galvanized everyone against, you've now partnered with.' "

LIV's defenders say critics are holding the outfit's deep-pocketed sponsor to an ethical standard they don't use either for other sports or for other entities — such as governments — that do business with Saudi Arabia. They also say pro golfers should be allowed to play where they want, without fearing punishment from the PGA Tour.

Phil Mickelson apologizes for controversial comments about a Saudi-backed golf league

Harrington acknowledged the criticisms, but he also said he hopes that including the Saudi fund could help open avenues for change.

"Yes this is sports washing and yes unfortunately it proves sports washing works," the Irish golfer said via Twitter . "But maybe one positive, inclusion and trade has shown to improve and change countries involved for the better.

"My own country thought it was acceptable to lock up unmarried mothers as late as 1996," he added.

The war may be over, but battles remain

When LIV Golf teed off last June, the PGA Tour immediately suspended 17 LIV players , including Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson and Kevin Na. That didn't stop other top talents from leaving, including Brooks Koepka and Bubba Watson.

For a sense of how deep and wide golf's divide is, consider what retired golfing great Jack Nicklaus said last week, when asked about PGA tournaments barring top LIV players such as reigning PGA Championship winner Brooks Koepka and British Open winner Cameron Smith.

"I don't even consider those guys part of the game anymore," Nicklaus said . "I don't mean that in a nasty way," he added.

Harold Varner III (left) is doused by teammate Talor Gooch after Varner won the LIV Golf Invitational - DC at Trump National Golf Club on May 28, in Sterling, Va. The upstart tour will be united along with the PGA Tour, in a blockbuster merger. Rob Carr/Getty Images hide caption

Harold Varner III (left) is doused by teammate Talor Gooch after Varner won the LIV Golf Invitational - DC at Trump National Golf Club on May 28, in Sterling, Va. The upstart tour will be united along with the PGA Tour, in a blockbuster merger.

The new deal could bring out more ire, and not only for golfers at the top of the rankings like Scottie Scheffler, Jon Rahm and McIlroy, who missed out on lucrative paydays. If golfers who defected from the PGA are allowed to return, they could crowd out golfers on the tour's lower rungs.

For context, LIV opened its current season with 48 players, on 12 four-person teams . The PGA Tour would struggle to absorb them all, as it reserves tour cards for the top 125 players from each year, although golfers get exemptions and other chances to enter tournaments. Overall, the FedEx Cup standings currently list 233 players.

"There still has to be consequences to actions," McIlroy said. "The people that left the PGA Tour irreparably harmed this tour, started litigation against it. Like, we can't just welcome them back in. That's not going to happen."

When he was asked whether players who stayed should be made financially whole, McIlroy didn't hesitate.

Golf has a problem: people are hitting the ball too far

"I mean, the simple answer is yes," he said. "The complex answer is, how does that happen?

That's just one of many details that are not yet known, including how much self-direction the PGA Tour will be able to maintain, and what pro golf will look like.

LIV Golf sought to transform how people watch pro golf, whose hushed tones have accompanied many an afternoon nap. Instead, LIV offered a louder, faster, made-for-TV product. Its tournaments stand apart with their aspect of team play and shotgun starts, in which players tee off on different holes simultaneously.

The rancor around the rift — and now, around the merger — suggests the sport still has some ways to go to heal itself and achieve the global success that Monahan and others in the deal say is now within their grasp.

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LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman envisions following PGA Tour model, purchase golf courses

LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman wants his league and every team to purchase golf courses across the world.

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Share All sharing options for: LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman envisions following PGA Tour model, purchase golf courses

LIV Golf may soon have its own network of golf courses, similar to the Tournament Players Club (TPC) model employed by the PGA Tour .

The tour currently owns and operates 38 courses across its TPC network, with one of them—TPC Craig Ranch—playing host to this week’s CJ Cup Byron Nelson . Many have or continue to host PGA Tour events, some open to the public while others are private.

TPC Sawgrass , the most famous of these courses, hosts The Players Championship every year. In 2020, TPC Harding Park in San Francisco became the first of its kind to host a major championship. Collin Morikawa won the PGA Championship there.

Now, LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman, in an interview with Bloomberg, revealed he wants to bring this model to the tour he runs.

“Man United owns their stadium. Indian Premier League, they own their stadiums. NFL, they own their stadiums,” Norman explained.

“Think about LIV owning all its own golf courses, each team having a home venue and hosting. And now you can build out around that. It’s not just a golf course. You bring in education, hospitality, real estate, merchandise, management, and all these other different opportunities that the game of golf has to deliver to a community or to a region. We are going to be doing that.”

LIV Golf currently has 13 teams and employs a 14-event schedule. Theoretically, each team could purchase a golf course and host one event each year. Perhaps Rippers GC, an all-Australian squad led by Cameron Smith, could buy The Grange Golf Club in Adelaide, which has hosted LIV Golf’s two most successful events over the past two years.

This year, Rippers GC prevailed in a playoff there, and given that they competed in their native countries, the crowd gave them overwhelming support.

Maybe Stingers GC, Louis Oosthuizen’s South African team that lost to Rippers GC last week, purchases property in their native country.

Or perhaps another team expands somewhere else.

At any rate, LIV Golf has no sign of slowing down, as Norman hopes to bring events to even more countries in 2025 and beyond.

“The Philippines are very keen to get us there,” Norman added.

“Golf in the Philippines is doing very well. We are not just sports; we’re sports, entertainment, and culture. So no matter where we go in the world, we adjust what we need to deliver from an entertainment standpoint.”

Sentosa Golf Club in Singapore is hosting a LIV Golf event this week. Brooks Koepka leads by three shots , heading into the final round of his final event before the PGA Championship.

The circuit returns to the United States for two events, bookending the U.S. Open in June.

“Our product is received with open arms by many, but a few want to try and stop us for all the wrong reasons,” Norman added.

“They haven’t been able to sustain their position in the game of golf. What we have done brilliantly is inject more capital. Golf is finally looked upon as an asset class.”

Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.

Next Up In Golf

• Phil Mickelson: “F*** around and find out” if LIV Golf denial to majors continues
• Byron Nelson: Taylor Pendrith seizes maiden PGA Tour win amid Ben Kohles’ tragic finish
• If you wanted Tiger Woods’ Sun Day Red polo, you are too late
• Scottie Scheffler gearing up for PGA Championship despite Wells Fargo absence
• Brooks Koepka heats up ahead of PGA Championship with LIV Golf Singapore win
• Taylor Pendrith fights through shoulder issue; grabs Byron Nelson lead

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PGA Tour goes to Dallas for same course and new title. LIV Golf plays in Singapore

Shane Lowry, of Ireland, hits out of the sand on the 15th fairway during the final round of the PGA Zurich Classic golf tournament at TPC Louisiana in Avondale, La., Sunday, April 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

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THE CJ CUP BYRON NELSON

Site: McKinney, Texas.

Course: TPC Craig Ranch. Yardage: 7,414. Par: 71.

Prize money: $9.5 million. Winner’s share: $1,710,000.

Television: Thursday-Friday, 4-7 p.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday-Sunday, 1-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3-6 p.m. (CBS).

Defending champion: Jason Day.

FedEx Cup leader: Scottie Scheffler.

Last week: Shane Lowry and Rory McIlroy won the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.

Notes: Jordan Spieth, Will Zalatoris and Tom Kim lead the contingent of Dallas-area residents playing the tournament. ... CJ Cup takes over as title sponsor after AT&T ended its sponsorship after nine years. CJ Cup started out with a tournament in South Korea, then moved to Las Vegas and South Carolina during the COVID-19 pandemic. ... The field features only 10 of the top 50 in the world ranking. Spieth is the highest-ranked player in the field at No. 20. ... Scottie Scheffler is missing the tournament as his wife is expecting their first child. ... Adam Scott is playing the tournament for the third straight year. He won the Byron Nelson in 2008. ... This is the final week to finish among the top 70 in the PGA Championship points list to assure a spot at Valhalla in two weeks. The points list is PGA Tour earnings the last 12 months. ... Spieth now has gone 43 starts over two years on the PGA Tour since his last victory.

Next week: Wells Fargo Championship.

Online: https://www.pgatour.com/

LIV GOLF LEAGUE

LIV GOLF SINGAPORE

Site: Singapore.

Course: Sentosa GC (Serapong). Yardage: 7,406. Par: 71.

Prize money: $20 million. Winner’s share: $4 million.

Television: Thursday-Saturday, 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. (CW app); Saturday-Sunday, 1-6 p.m. (The CW Network-Tape Delay).

Defending champion: Talor Gooch.

Points leader: Joaquin Niemann.

Last week: Brendan Steele won LIV Golf Adelaide.

Notes: Brendan Steele last week became the third straight first-time winner on LIV Golf, matching the longest such streak since the league launched in June 2022. ... Jon Rahm has yet to win since joining LIV this year, but he is the only player in 2024 to have finished in the top 10 in all six events. ... Ian Poulter and Hudson Swafford were the only players who did not have a round under par last week in Australia. ... Poulter in 2009 and Sergio Garcia in 2018 won the Singapore Open when it was played at Sentosa. ... With the PGA Championship approaching, LIV has three players in the top 100 who are not already eligible — Adrian Meronk, Lucas Herbert and Patrick Reed. ... LIV already has 10 players in the PGA Championship field at Valhalla. ... After back-to-back weeks in Australia and Asia, LIV Golf is off for a month until a week before the U.S. Open.

Next tournament: LIV Golf Houston on June 7-9.

Online: https://www.livgolf.com/

EUROPEAN TOUR

VOLVO CHINA OPEN

Site: Shenzhen, China.

Course: Hidden Grace GC. Yards: 7,147. Par: 72.

Prize money: $2.25 million. Winner’s share: $375,000.

Television: Thursday-Friday, 12-5 a.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday, 12-4:30 a.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday, 11:30 p.m. to 4:30 a.m. (Golf Channel).

Previous winner: Sarit Suwannarut.

Race to Dubai leader: Rory McIlroy.

Last week: Yuto Katsuragawa won the ISPS Handa Championship.

Notes: The China Open returns to the European tour schedule for the first time since 2019 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The tournament was held last year co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour and the China Tour. ... This is the final event that counts toward the Asian Swing on the European. The top three players get exemptions into the PGA Championship next month at Valhalla. Sebastian Soderberg, Keita Nakajima and Jesper Svensson are currently holding down the top three spots. ... Thriston Lawrence leads the European tour this season with five finishes in the top 10. ... Katsuragawa is the fourth player from Japan in the last seven months to win on the European tour. The others were Ryo Hisatsune, Rikuya Hoshino and Nakajima. ... The tour is off until the PGA Championship on May 16-19. After that begins a stretch in which 17 consecutive events (outside the majors) are staged in European countries.

Next tournament: PGA Championship on May 16-19.

Online: https://www.europeantour.com/dpworld-tour/

PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS

INSPERITY INVITATIONAL

Site: The Woodlands, Texas.

Course: The Woodlands CC (Tournament). Yards: 7,002. Par: 72.

Prize money: $2.7 million. Winner’s share: $405,000.

Television: Friday, 12:30-3:30 p.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday-Sunday, 3-6 p.m. (Golf Channel).

Defending champion: Steven Alker.

Charles Schwab Cup leader: Stephen Ames.

Last week: Stephen Ames won the Mitsubishi Electric Classic.

Notes: Bernhard Langer returns to competition after injuring his Achilles tendon while playing pickleball on Feb. 1. The injury caused him to miss the Masters. ... Langer has won every year since first becoming eligible for the PGA Tour Champions in 2007. He is a four-time winner of the Insperity Invitational. ... Stephen Ames took over the Charles Schwab Cup lead over Steven Alker by winning at the TPC Sugarloaf last week. It was his second win this season. ... Alker is the two-time defending champion at The Woodlands. ... Ames is the only multiple winner on the PGA Tour Champions in 2024. ... The field includes Steve Stricker, who missed the cut last week in New Orleans on the PGA Tour. ... Paul Broadhurst of England has won and finished runner-up in his last two starts. ... This is the last regular event before the first of five majors on the PGA Tour Champions schedule.

Next week: Regions Tradition.

Online: https://www.pgatour.com/pgatour-champions

Last week: Hannah Green won the JM Eagle LA Championship.

Next week: Cognizant Founders Cup.

Race to CME Globe leader: Nelly Korda.

Online: https://www.lpga.com/

KORN FERRY TOUR

Last week: Tim Widing won the Veritex Bank Championship.

Next tournament: AdventHealth Championship on May 16-19.

Points leader: Tim Widing.

Online: https://www.pgatour.com/korn-ferry-tour

OTHER TOURS

Epson Tour: Casino Del Sol Golf Classic, Sewailo GC, Tucson, Ariz. Defending champion: Gigi Stoll. Online: https://www.epsontour.com/

PGA of America: PGA Professional Championship, Fields Ranch at PGA (East and West), Frisco, Texas. Defending champion: Braden Shattuck. Television: Tuesday, 5-8 p.m. (Golf Channel); Wednesday, 4-7 p.m. (Golf Channel). Online: https://www.pga.com/

Japan Golf Tour: The Crowns, Nagoya GC (Wago), Aichi, Japan. Defending champion: Hiroshi Iwata. Online: https://www.jgto.org/en/

Asian Tour: GS Caltex Maekyung Open, Namseoul CC, Seongnam, South Korea. Defending champion: Chanmin Jung. Online: https://asiantour.com/

Legends Tour: Barbados Leges, Apes Hills Barbados, Saint James, Barbados. Defending champion: New tournament. Online: https://www.legendstour.com/

Japan LPGA: World Ladies Championship Salonpas Cup, Ibaraki GC (East), Ibaraki, Japan. Defending champion: Yuri Yoshida. Online: https://www.lpga.or.jp/en/

Korea LPGA: Kyochon 1991 Ladies Open, Sunsan CC, Gumi South Korea. Defending champion: Bokyeom Park. Online: https://klpga.co.kr/

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

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Brooks Koepka Picks Up Fourth LIV Golf Win in Singapore

• Author: Bob Harig

Brooks Koepka became the first player to win four times as part of the LIV Golf League, shooting a final-round 68 at Sentosa Golf Club in Singapore on Sunday to beat Cam Smith and Marc Leishman by two strokes.

His timing wasn’t bad, either.

A few days after offering concern about his game in light of a poor Masters performance , Koepka stepped up and won the LIV Golf Singapore even to give himself a boost heading into the defense of his PGA Championship title in two weeks.

The year’s second major begins on May 16.

“It’s all starting to come around,” said Koepka, who last year won his fifth major title when he captured the PGA at Oak Hill, becoming the first active LIV golfer to win a major. “I like the way things are trending.’’

MORE: Full results, payouts from LIV Golf Singapore

They didn’t seem to be trending well just a few days ago when Koepka made clear he was not happy with his tie for 45th at the Masters. “I felt like I wasted all that time from January up until then,’’ he said.

He tied for 10th at the LIV Golf event in Adelaide the week prior and heading into the Singapore tournament that he simply needed to get putts to drop.

“I’ve put in a lot of work,’’ he said. “I feel like on the golf course, off the golf course, it’s been a good two weeks, to say the least. Take a week off and then grinding pretty hard with (instructor) Claude (Harmon) over the last few days, I thought that was very important. Kind of started to see it turn maybe Wednesday, Thursday of Adelaide, so to see it pay off here is huge.”

Koepka won his third PGA Championship Wanamaker Trophy last year. In each of his first four major victories, he won back-to-back at the 2017 and ’18 U.S. Opens and the 2018 and ’19 PGAs.

After a second-round 64, Koepka started the final round with a three-shot lead over Abraham Ancer, Adrian Meronk, Thomas Pieters and Mathew Wolff. He never relinquished his lead, although several challengers closed the gap at times.

“I felt the heat, but it was mainly because of how hot it was,” Koepka said. “Just played very consistent, missed it in the right spots. When you're playing with a lead, you do that. You don't have to force anything.”

Smith and Leishman were part of the winning Ripper GC team, capturing the team title for the second straight week. 

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Pendrith wins CJ Cup Byron Nelson, his first PGA Tour title

With a one-shot lead on 18, Ben Kohles has a disaster chip and missed par putt, leading to Taylor Pendrith getting his first win on the PGA Tour. (1:00)

• ESPN News Services

McKINNEY, Texas -- Taylor Pendrith tried his best to ignore Ben Kohles ' final-hole meltdown, focusing on the eagle putt that the Canadian thought he might have to make even to force a playoff as he walked toward the 18th green.

Several stunning minutes later, a 3-footer for birdie gave Pendrith his first PGA Tour victory.

Kohles overtook Pendrith with birdies on Nos. 16 and 17 for a 1-shot lead, then bogeyed the 18th after hitting his second shot into greenside rough. Already in shock following two chips from the rough -- the second with his feet in a bunker -- Kohles missed a 6-foot putt that would have forced a playoff.

"Wasn't really trying to pay attention to what they were doing, although it really mattered, obviously," Pendrith said. "I feel for Ben. He played really, really good today, especially down the stretch. I've been on the other side of it a couple times, and it sucks. But it's golf. It's a hard game."

Pendrith shot 4-under 67 for a 23-under 261 total at the TPC Craig Ranch. The 32-year-old won in his 74th career PGA Tour start.

Playing just north of his birthplace of Dallas, Kohles shot 66 to finish a stroke back. The 34-year-old, who plays out of North Carolina and is winless in 68 starts, was the only player to bogey the 18th Sunday.

"Honestly, hadn't seen any rough like that all week," said Kohles, who moved to North Carolina when he was 10. "Just needed a little bit more umph on it. Did so many good things this week, and I'm just going to keep reminding myself of that and try to get myself back in this position."

Alex Noren , a Swedish player also seeking a first PGA Tour victory, was another stroke back. He wowed the crowd on the stadium hole at the par-3 17th with a tee shot to 2½ feet, but followed that birdie with a par knowing he probably needed an eagle on 18. Noren shot 65 and was alone in third at 21 under.

Aaron Rai and first-round leader Matt Wallace of England were at 20 under along with the South Korean pair of S.H. Kim and Byeong Hun An . Rai and Kim shot 64, An 65 and Wallace 68.

Pendrith, the third-round leader, and Kohles were separated by just 1 shot or tied most of the day. After Kohles made a 20-footer to take the lead on 17, Pendrith's par putt rolled all the way around the cup and went in.

"It just curled in, that putt, on the last second there, which was unreal just to give me a chance," said Pendrith. He had set it up with a chip from an awkward stance, with his heels hanging over the lip of a bunker, after saving par with another testy putt at the par-4 16th.

The victory qualified Pendrith for the PGA Championship in two weeks and next year's Masters. He's also in the next three $20 million signature events, starting next week with the Wells Fargo championship. Kohles and Noren also played their way into Wells Fargo with their Nelson showings.

With Wells Fargo and the PGA coming in the next two weeks, just three of the top 30 in the world ranking were in the field.

Jordan Spieth , the highest at No. 20, missed the cut for just the second time in 12 appearances at his hometown event. Defending champion Jason Day (22nd) and Tom Kim (23rd) didn't contend, with Day finishing 1 shot behind Kim at 9 under.

Jake Knapp , the second-round leader who three years ago was working as a security guard in his home state of California, shot 70 to finish at 19 under. Knapp and Wallace were the only players in the top eight with a previous PGA Tour win.

The start of the final round was pushed back 2½ hours because of overnight rain, and pairings turned into threesomes going off both tees with the players allowed to lift, clean and place shots in the fairway.

Wallace appeared to start a charge by chipping in for birdie at 12, the toughest hole of the week, and getting another birdie at the par-4 13th. A three-putt bogey on the par-3 15th stalled him out.

Rafael Campos , a 13-year journeyman from Puerto Rico who has spent most of his career on satellite tours, birdied five of the first six holes starting on the back nine to make the turn at 29.

The 36-year-old cooled off on his second nine before making a 48-foot putt from off the green for eagle on the par-5 ninth for a 63 that put him at 18 under.

Taiga Semikawa , a 23-year-old from Japan playing on a sponsor exemption, also finished at 18 after a 64.

Kris Kim , a 16-year old amateur making his PGA Tour debut, had a rough finish as the youngest to play a final round on tour in 10 years.

Playing his final nine on the front, the son of South Korean-born former LPGA Tour player Ji-Hyun Suh had four bogeys and shot 73 to finish 6 under.

Kim, who is from England, played on a sponsor exemption from the South Korean company and tournament title sponsor CJ Group.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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• T4 S.H Kim -20 Final
• T4 Byeong Hun An -20 Final
• T13 Si Woo Kim -17 Final
• T41 Sung Kang -13 Final
• T52 Tom Kim -10 Final
• T59 Kyoung-Hoon Lee -9 Final
• T59 S.Y. Noh -9 Final

2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson leaderboard, grades: Taylor Pendrith wins with birdie on No. 18 to edge Ben Kohles

Kohles' bogey on the last hole allows pendrith to earn his first pga tour victory.

Taylor Pendrith had it won and then it looked like he'd lost, but eventually snatched back his first PGA Tour victory at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson on Sunday afternoon at TPC Craig Ranch.

Pendrith, who went into the final round with a lead, played well throughout the front nine but started to fade a bit on the back nine as Ben Kohles made a hard charge toward the top of the leaderboard with birdies on Nos. 16 and 17. Pendrith barely saved par on both holes and trailed by one going to the final hole when, just three holes earlier, he had a one-shot lead. 

At No. 18, his persistence paid dividends. Kohles made an astounding bogey after a yippy chip that was the only score worse than par by anyone in the field on Sunday, and Pendrith poured in a two-putt birdie for the first PGA Tour win of his career.

It has not been Pendrith's best year, which he alluded to in an interview after his round with CBS Sports. However, it was an awesome week at the right time. Pendrith finished third in this field from tee to green, which is usually a good formula for winning. And winning this event is a good formula for a few other checkpoints for Pendrith this year.

The first is that he gets into next week's Wells Fargo Championship. The second, and perhaps more important for Pendrith, is that he's now officially on the radar for a Presidents Cup bid later this year when the biennial event heads to Pendrith's home country of Canada where fellow Canadian Mike Weir will be captain.

Both of those are momentous turning points for Pendrith -- to date he had missed six cuts and made just four of them. But like his round on Sunday, he continued to endure and reaped the rewards of that endurance. Even if he had to wait until the very end for it to happen.  Grade: A+

Here are the grades for the rest of the notables on the leaderboard at the 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson

T11. Si Woo Kim (-17):  My guy Si Woo stays hot with another solid performance. He has not missed a cut this year, and if you look at the three non-putting strokes gained categories, he's been positive in each category for every event he's played starting with the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March except for his approach play at the Masters. That's the only time he was worse than average in any single category at any individual event. That's crazy!  Grade: B+

T30. Nick Dunlap (-14):  The American Express winner has struggled mightily since winning nearly four. months ago. He has played just one tournament in which he was positive both off the tee and with his iron play. Coming into this week, he has only one (one!) top 40 finish since winning in Palm Springs in January and turning pro. It has been an eye-opening experience for somebody who I'm still extremely excited about in the long term. Dunlap is barely 20 years old and simply struggling with the ebbs and flows of pro golf. This week must be an encouragement for him as its his second decent finish in his last four starts (he also finished T11 in Houston before the Masters).  Grade: C+

MC. Jordan Spieth (-4):  I will hit the panic button if you will. After a nice start to the year, here's what Spieth's last eight tournaments look like.

• Genesis Invitational: DQ
• Arnold Palmer Invitational: T30
• Players Championship: MC
• Valspar Championship: MC
• Texas Open: T10
• Masters: MC
• RBC Heritage: T39
• CJ Cup Byron Nelson: MC

Whew, that's bad. And while players like Spieth can almost always find something faster than it seems like they should be able to, there are so many different holes to plug. Here's an example: On Thursday in the first round at TPC Craig Ranch, Spieth hit it well, but finished 113th in putting. On Friday in the second round, he led the field in driving (what?) but finished 154th in approach play (out of 155 golfers). It's not just one thing with him. It's so many different things all the time and all at once. Winning the PGA Championship to complete the grand slam has never looked further away.  Grade: F

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On-Site Recap: Bryon Nelson Final Round

Byron Nelson Recap: Ben Kohles Falls Apart Down The Stretch

Byron Nelson Recap: Taylor Pendrith Wins In Final Hole Comeback

Byron Nelson Recap: Lookahead To Wells Fargo Championship

Highlights: Byron Nelson Round 3

On-Site Recap: Byron Nelson Round 3

Taylor Pendrith Sounds Off Following Round 3

Byron Nelson Round 3 Recap: Taylor Pendrith Leads After Round 3

Byron Nelson Round 3 Recap: Examining The Chase Pack

Byron Nelson: Pick To Win

Highlights: Byron Nelson Round 2

Jake Knapp (-14) Cards 64 Friday, Leads After Round 2

Jordan Speith (-4) Misses Cut At Byron Nelson

Pick To Win Byron Nelson After Round 2

Watch Out! Speith Hits A Spectator

Byron Nelson Round 2 Update

Highlights: round 1 - the cj cup byron nelson.

Byron Nelson Wagering Preview: Jordan Spieth (+1400) Enters As Betting Favorite

Byron Nelson Wagering Preview: Top Head-To-Head Matchup

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Ben Kohles makes untimely bogey at the 72nd hole at THE CJ CUP

Taylor Pendrith’s news conference after winning THE CJ CUP

Taylor Pendrith’s interview after winning THE CJ CUP

Taylor Pendrith’s bunker birdie is the Shot of the Day

Shot of the Day

Taylor Pendrith secures first win at THE CJ CUP

Round Recaps

Taylor Pendrith’s Round 4 winning highlights from THE CJ CUP

Extended Highlights

Taylor Pendrith birdies the last to win at THE CJ CUP

Jake Knapp gets up-and-down from bunker for birdie at THE CJ CUP

Brandt Snedeker makes birdie putt at THE CJ CUP

Ben Kohles rolls in clutch 20-footer for birdie at THE CJ CUP

Byeong Hun An holes birdie putt at THE CJ CUP

Ben Kohles hits it tight to set up tap-in birdie at THE CJ CUP

Alex Noren throws a dart from the tee to set up birdie at THE CJ CUP

Joel Dahmen sticks approach to set up birdie at THE CJ CUP

Seung-Yul Noh makes birdie putt at THE CJ CUP

Vince Whaley sticks tee shot to set up birdie at THE CJ CUP

Kris Kim finds the green in two to set up birdie at THE CJ CUP

Byeong Hun An makes short birdie putt at THE CJ CUP

Martin Laird holes 17-footer for eagle at THE CJ CUP

Tyson Alexander sinks birdie putt at THE CJ CUP

Aaron Rai gets home in two to set up birdie at THE CJ CUP

Zach Johnson chips it close to set up birdie at THE CJ CUP

Nick Dunlap finds the green in two to set up birdie at THE CJ CUP

Alex Noren's bunker play leads to birdie at THE CJ CUP

Byeong Hun An's near ace leads to birdie at THE CJ CUP

Kelly Kraft drives the green to set up birdie at THE CJ CUP

Ben Griffin spins it close to set up birdie at THE CJ CUP

Chris Gotterup reaches in two to set up birdie at THE CJ CUP

Byeong Hun An chips it tight to set up birdie at THE CJ CUP

Keith Mitchell gets up-and-down to set up birdie at THE CJ CUP

Kevin Tway chips it close to set up birdie at THE CJ CUP

S.H. Kim sticks second to make eagle at THE CJ CUP

Sung Kang's impressive tee shot leads to birdie at THE CJ CUP

Min Woo Lee drives the green to set up birdie at THE CJ CUP

Matt Wallace sinks clutch 15-footer for birdie at THE CJ CUP

Taylor Pendrith sticks tee shot to set up birdie at THE CJ CUP

S.H. Kim throws a dart to set up birdie at THE CJ CUP

Kevin Chappell makes short birdie putt at THE CJ CUP

Ben Griffin gets up-and-down for birdie at THE CJ CUP

Stephan Jaeger drives it pin-high to set up birdie at THE CJ CUP

Hayden Buckley taps in for birdie at THE CJ CUP

Seung-Yul Noh drains 33-foot birdie putt at THE CJ CUP

Patton Kizzire sticks tee shot to set up birdie at THE CJ CUP

Matt Wallace chips in for birdie on No. 12 at THE CJ CUP

Aaron Rai makes bounce-back birdie on No. 14 at THE CJ CUP

Zach Johnson's 43-yard approach from rough runs out nicely at THE CJ CUP

Nick Dunlap's nice up-and-down from 58-yards at THE CJ CUP

Rafael Campos closes with hole-out for eagle at THE CJ CUP

Kevin Chappell makes birdie on No. 2 at THE CJ CUP

Taiga Semikawa makes birdie on No. 9 at THE CJ CUP

02 - 05 May 2024

Volvo China Open

Hidden Grace GC, Shenzhen, China

DP World Tour Partners