pga tour and liv golf to merge

PGA Tour completes $3B deal amid LIV merger talks

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The PGA Tour has reached a deal with Strategic Sports Group, a consortium of billionaire sports team owners, to infuse up to $3 billion into a new for-profit entity, PGA Tour Enterprises, that was officially launched Wednesday, the tour announced.

Under the terms of the deal, Strategic Sports Group, which is being led by Fenway Sports Group, would make an initial investment of $1.5 billion with the possibility of another $1.5 billion coming later. The PGA Tour will control the for-profit company.

The tour said in a news release that the deal with SSG allows for a co-investment from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, subject to all necessary regulatory approvals.

The PGA Tour said nearly 200 of its members would have access to a "first-of-its-kind" program that would allow them to become equity holders in PGA Tour Enterprises. The members would collectively have access to more than $1.5 billion in equity grants, which will vest over time. The size of grants will be determined by a tiered system based on "career accomplishments, recent achievements, future participation and services and PGA Tour membership status."

The equity program would be available only to qualified PGA Tour players.

PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan provided details of the deal with members of the PGA Tour, Korn Ferry Tour and PGA Tour Champions in a conference call Wednesday.

"Today marks an important moment for the PGA Tour and fans of golf across the world," Monahan said in a statement. "By making PGA Tour members owners of their league, we strengthen the collective investment of our players in the success of the PGA Tour. Fans win when we all work to deliver the best in sports entertainment and return the focus to the incredible -- and unmatched -- competitive atmosphere created by our players, tournaments and partners.

"And partnering with SSG -- a group with extensive experience and investment across sports, media and entertainment -- will enhance our organization's ability to make the sport more rewarding for players, tournaments, fans and partners."

Monahan will serve as CEO of PGA Tour Enterprises, according to the release.

The PGA Tour policy board unanimously approved the deal, according to the release, including player directors Patrick Cantlay , Peter Malnati , Adam Scott , Webb Simpson , Jordan Spieth and Tiger Woods .

"We were proud to vote in unanimous support of this historic partnership between PGA Tour Enterprises and SSG," the player directors said in a joint statement. "It was incredibly important for us to create opportunities for the players of today and in the future to be more invested in their organization, both financially and strategically. This not only further strengthens the Tour from a business perspective, but it also encourages the players to be fully invested in continuing to deliver -- and further enhance -- the best in golf to our fans."

The SSG consortium of owners includes Tom Werner and John Henry of the Boston Red Sox , Mark Attanasio ( Milwaukee Brewers ), Arthur Blank ( Atlanta Falcons ), Wyc Grousbeck ( Boston Celtics ) and Steve Cohen ( New York Mets ). SSG will provide "strategic focus on maximizing revenue generation for the benefit of the players and on finding opportunities to enhance the game of golf across the world."

"Our enthusiasm for this new venture stems from a very deep respect for this remarkable game and a firm belief in the expansive growth potential of the PGA Tour," Henry, principal owner of the Fenway Sports Group, said in a statement. "We are proud to partner with this historic institution and are eager to work with the PGA Tour and its many members to grow and strengthen the game of golf globally."

Fenway Sports Group, which owns the Red Sox, Liverpool FC and Pittsburgh Penguins , will serve as a commercial adviser to PGA Tour Enterprises.

The PGA Tour is continuing its negotiations to finalize an agreement with the Public Investment Fund and the DP World Tour, which would potentially inject additional billions of dollars into PGA Tour Enterprises, sources said. The tour said it is making progress in its ongoing negotiations with PIF on a "potential future investment and both parties are working towards an ultimate agreement."

The PGA Tour, DP World Tour and PIF signed a framework agreement in June to combine their commercial assets, including the LIV Golf League. The agreement had a Dec. 31 deadline, which was extended as the sides continued to hammer out final details. Monahan and PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan reportedly met in Saudi Arabia last week.

The proposed alliance with the PIF and DP World Tour has already drawn the scrutiny of Congress and the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division.

The future of LIV Golf, which has continued to poach PGA Tour players in recent months, including Masters champion Jon Rahm and England's Tyrrell Hatton , is one of the sticking points in the negotiations with the PIF. The Saudis have been insistent that team golf remain a part of the sport's future, sources said.

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PGA Tour and Europe join forces with Saudi’s LIV Golf. Here’s what you need to know

Former President Donald Trump talks with Yasir Al-Rumayyan, during the first round of the LIV Golf Tournament at Trump National Golf Club, Friday, May 26, 2023, in Sterling, Va. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

FILE - Yasir Al-Rumayyan attends the champion’s ceremony at the LIV Golf Invitational-Chicago tournament Sunday, Sept. 18, 2022, in Sugar Hill, Ill. The most disruptive year in golf ended Tuesday, June 6, 2023, when the PGA Tour and European tour agreed to a merger with Saudi Arabia’s golf interests, creating a commercial operation designed to unify professional golf around the world. Al-Rumayyan, the governor of Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, will join the board of the PGA Tour, which continues to operates its tournaments. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)

FILE - PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan speaks during a news conference before the start of the Travelers Championship golf tournament at TPC River Highlands, Wednesday, June 22, 2022, in Cromwell, Conn. The most disruptive year in golf ended Tuesday, June 6, 2023, when the PGA Tour and European tour agreed to a merger with Saudi Arabia’s golf interests, creating a commercial operation designed to unify professional golf around the world.(AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

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The announcement was so shocking that not even PGA Tour players knew what was coming. The tour was fighting the threat of Saudi-backed LIV Golf for more than a year. On Tuesday, they decided to start working together.

The PGA Tour, European tour and Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund say they will combine their commercial businesses into a new company with hopes of unifying golf.

That means all lawsuits are being dropped immediately. The other details create as many questions as answers. That starts with whether top stars like Phil Mickelson and Brooks Koepka — suspended for taking massive Saudi money to leave the PGA Tour for LIV — will have a way back. They would rejoin players who stayed loyal to the tour.

The PGA Tour was in federal court trying to require Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of the Public Investment Fund, to give testimony in an antitrust case. And now, Al-Rumayyan is on the PGA Tour board of directors. He also will be chairman of the new business venture involving the three tours.

Some players felt they were betrayed. Top players have not commented because they know so little about what this means.

Missing from all the announcements was Greg Norman, the commissioner of LIV Golf.

WHAT IS LIV GOLF?

LIV Golf is a rival league funded by the Saudi Arabia sovereign wealth fund that has tried to reinvent the structure of professional golf with 48-man fields, no mid-tournament cuts and up to $25 million in prize money. There also is a team component. The league is run by Greg Norman, a former PGA Tour star who tried nearly 30 years ago to create a world tour. LIV Golf lured away 13 former major champions, including Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson, who then were suspended by the PGA Tour.

WHY DID SAUDI ARABIA WANT TO CREATE A GOLF LEAGUE?

The kingdom has been investing in sports and entertainment in recent years as part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s initiative called “Vision 2030” to diversify and reduce its dependence on oil. Golf was a natural fit.

It has led to accusations of “ sportswashing ,” an attempt to use sports investments to gloss over human rights abuses, such as the 2018 killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, which the CIA says occurred on the orders of bin Salman.

WHY ARE PGA TOUR PLAYERS ANGRY AT THE LIV DEFECTORS?

LIV Golf was trying to get all the top players in the world ranking. A majority of them turned down bonuses estimated at $100 million or more to stay loyal to the PGA Tour.

Rory McIlroy accused LIV defectors of “taking the easy way out” and Tiger Woods said they “turned their backs” on the very tour that made them famous. It also caused a great divide in golf, because LIV players were not allowed to play on the PGA Tour. Now they are angry over the notion LIV players might return without consequences.

The PGA Tour looks nothing like it did when LIV Golf started. PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan says he couldn’t match Saudi money, but it wasn’t because of a lack of effort. This year the PGA Tour had 13 “elevated events” with $20 million purses. For 2024, it has returned its schedule to start in January and end in August. There will be about 15 tournaments with $20 million purses — nearly twice as much as they were — for the top 50 in the season points race on the PGA Tour.

WHY DID THE PGA TOUR MERGE WITH LIV GOLF?

Monahan refused to meet with the Saudi Golf group for two years. But a few months ago, PGA Tour board member Jimmy Dunne arranged a meeting. Monahan, European tour CEO Keith Pelley and Al-Rumayyan began working out an agreement. Monahan realized LIV Golf had a deep well of funds and wasn’t going anywhere. He says golf was too divided and had too much tension and it was best for everyone to come together.

WHO WILL BE IN CHARGE OF THE PGA TOUR AFTER THE MERGER?

The PGA Tour policy board will add Al-Rumayyan, and then it will either add another player or remove one of the spots that belong to the corporate world. The new commercial company — it still doesn’t have a name — will have Al-Rumayyan as the chairman and Monahan as the CEO. The PGA Tour will have a majority stake in the new company. However, PIF at first will be the exclusive investor alongside the PGA Tour, LIV Golf and the DP World Tour. Going forward, PIF will have the exclusive right to further invest.

The PGA Tour will keep tax-exempt status as a 501-c-6 organization that is charity driven. As far as fans are concerned, it will still be the same logo and the same tour. Ditto for the European tour, whose commercial name is DP World Tour.

WHERE WILL THE LIV GOLF DEFECTORS PLAY NEXT YEAR?

LIV Golf will finish its second season this year as scheduled. After that is anyone’s guess. Monahan says officials will conduct a thorough evaluation of how to integrate team golf into the PGA Tour. LIV Golf was trying to turn its 12 teams into franchises. No one had sponsored a team.

It is unlikely that if LIV Golf still exists, players can play both sides. That’s what led to this in the first place. Curiously missing from all the announcements was Norman’s name. Al-Rumayyan said on CNBC that he told Norman about the merging tours only a few minutes before the announcement.

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PGA Tour, LIV Golf, DP World Tour announce merger in stunning move 'to unify the game of golf'

The golf leagues are merging their commercial operations.

In a shocking and historic move, the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund have agreed to a merger that will see the PIF's golf-related business (LIV Golf) combine with the other tours in what is being described as "a new, collectively owned, for-profit entity to ensure that all stakeholders benefit from a model that delivers maximum excitement and competition among the game's best players."

A Board of Directors will be appointed to manage the commercial golf business with the PGA Tour appointing a majority of the members and holding a majority voting interest. The new, unnamed business "will work to ensure a cohesive schedule of events that will be exciting for fans, sponsors and all stakeholders," according to the press release announcing the deal.

Other than the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and LIV Golf holding investments in the entity, the PIF will make a new, exclusive investment and retain exclusive rights to make further investments, including the opportunity to refuse any capital that may be invested.

The PIF, Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund, is believed to be among the largest of its kind globally with minority stakes in numerous major American and international businesses. In recent years, the PIF has entered a multi-million dollar deal with WWE, acquired Newcastle United FC and created LIV Golf under accusations of "sportswashing" -- using sports as propaganda to improve one's reputation and direct attention away from human rights and corruption scandals.

As for the specifics in terms of how this stunning development will play out across all three tours, it's too early to say.

The group claims the move is being made "to unify the game of golf, on a global basis" with a plan "to grow these combined commercial businesses, drive greater fan engagement and accelerate growth initiatives already underway." Furthermore, the tours "will work together to best feature and grow team golf going forward."

What is known is that the merger formally ends what was ongoing litigation between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf. It will also create a path for golfers to reapply for membership to the PGA Tour after the conclusion of the 2023 season.

Furthermore, it appears the tours will continue to run independently with respective administrative oversight. The PGA Tour will remain a 501(c)(6) tax exempt organization with Jay Monahan as its commissioner, though PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan will join the Tour's policy board.

LIV Golf, completely financed by the PIF, debuted in 2022 as a direct rival to the PGA Tour. It spent significant guaranteed money to acquire some of the game's best and most notable players, including Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia, Bryson DeChambeau, Cameron Smith and Joaquin Niemann. The PGA Tour revoked those players' ability to play in its league as consternation between the tours continued into LIV's second season. The PGA Tour subsequently reworked its schedule and payment structure to ensure its star players earned more than ever before with designated events featuring $20 million purses as a tentpole.

"After two years of disruption and distraction, this is a historic day for the game we all know and love," Monahan said in a statement. "This transformational partnership recognizes 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 organization that will benefit golf's players, commercial and charitable partners and fans.  

"Going forward, fans can be confident that we will, collectively, deliver on the promise we've always made -- to promote competition of the best in professional golf and that we are committed to securing and driving the game's future.

"We are pleased to move forward, in step with LIV and PIF's world-class investing experience, and I applaud PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan for his vision and collaborative and forward-thinking approach that is not just a solution to the rift in our game, but also a commitment to taking it to new heights. This will engender a new era in global golf, for the better."

The merger is expected to be finalized in the coming months. A meeting with PGA Tour players will be held Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET.

A shock in the golf world. The PGA Tour is merging with LIV Golf and the DP World Tour, and The First Cut crew breaks it all own. Follow & listen to The First Cut on  Apple Podcasts  and  Spotify .

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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
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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."

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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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PGA Tour, LIV Golf and DP World Tour agree to make shock merger

• Tours reveal move to merge and form a commercial entity
• LIV player Phil Mickelson calls the agreement ‘awesome’

Saudi Arabia has in effect taken control of top-level golf after the shock announcement of a multibillion‑dollar investment in which the LIV Golf Series will merge with the PGA and DP World Tours.

The move, confirmed after a month of intense and secret negotiations which began in England, was hailed as “awesome” by LIV’s Phil Mickelson. There will soon be a pathway for LIV golfers to return to the PGA or DP World Tours – and the Ryder Cup. Antitrust lawsuits between LIV and the PGA Tour will be dropped. With one extraordinary statement, hitherto sworn enemies presented a united front. The Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) will pour huge sums – confirmed by its governor, Yasir al-Rumuyyan, as running into billions – into a newly formed entity to run top-tier golf. All three tours will exist under that.

The joint statement said: “The parties have signed an agreement that combines PIF’s golf-related commercial businesses and rights (including LIV Golf) with the commercial businesses and rights of the PGA Tour and DP World Tour into a new, collectively owned, for-profit entity to ensure that all stakeholders benefit from a model that delivers maximum excitement and competition among the game’s best players.”

LIV’s poaching of players – including Mickelson, Dustin Johnson and the Open champion, Cameron Smith – for tens of millions of dollars from the PGA and DP World Tours throughout 2022 led to those golfers being ostracised from their previous domain. That is about to change. The statement read: “The three organisations will work cooperatively and in good faith 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 following the completion of the 2023 season and for determining fair criteria and terms of readmission, consistent with each tour’s policies.”

This opens the door for Ryder Cup reprieves for European golfers who looked to have removed themselves from the biennial joust. However, that situation seems unlikely to be resolved for this year’s event in Rome. It is further complicated by the fact that some of those involved – Sergio García, Henrik Stenson, Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter – have recently resigned from the DP World Tour.

Jay Monahan, the PGA Tour’s commissioner, had previously been fierce in his resistance to all things LIV. In emphasising the remarkable scene, he sat alongside Rumayyan in a US television studio as the agreement was set out. “There’s been a lot of tension in our sport over the last couple of years,” Monahan said. “But what we’re talking about today is coming together to unify the game of golf. And to do so under one umbrella.”

“I recognise that people are going to call me a hypocrite,” Monahan added. “Any time I’ve said anything I’ve said it with the information 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 and I think looking at the big picture got us to this point.”

Monahan addressed players, including Rory McIlroy, on Tuesday afternoon at the Canadian Open. McIlroy, another staunch opponent of LIV, is scheduled to give his thoughts to the media on Wednesday.

Keith Pelley, the DP World Tour’s chief executive, was, like Monahan, upbeat. “I think it’s an unbelievable, momentous day,” he said. “It’s an exciting time for global golf and the men’s professional game. I am just thrilled with the announcement and what it means for the DP World Tour members going forward.”

Pressed on whether this was a victory for Saudi sportswashing, Pelley said: “The challenge that we had is that they were playing outside the ecosystem and outside of the global professional golf infrastructure. Now they are playing inside it. I’m energised by the fact that the PIF and the PGA Tour will both be working closely with the DP World Tour to grow our tour and grow it for our members.”

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The American financier Jimmy Dunne, an Augusta National member and a recent addition to the PGA Tour’s policy board, was central to the merger discussions. Monahan and Rumayyan met for lunch and played golf on the outskirts of London to accelerate them. LIV, which is seeking wider exposure in the US, will hope to secure a share of the PGA Tour’s broadcast agreements.

Felix Jakens of Amnesty International said: “It’s been clear for some time that Saudi Arabia was prepared to use vast amounts of money to muscle its way into top-tier golf, just part of a wider effort to become a major sporting power and to try to distract attention from the country’s atrocious human rights record.”

Intriguingly, Greg Norman appears not only to have been excluded from the settlement talks but the LIV commissioner’s name was absent from the press release announcing the deal. The Australian has been a controversial figure in the LIV debate, with Tiger Woods and McIlroy among those to call for him to step away. Rumayyan revealed he only informed Norman of developments immediately before his television interview. Speculation will naturally intensify that Norman’s LIV association is close to coming to an end.

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PGA Tour, LIV Golf announce plan to merge in stunning reversal

The PGA Tour and LIV Golf have announced plans of a surprise merger atop the men's pro golf world.

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In a stunning announcement, the PGA Tour, LIV Golf and the DP World Tour have merged into a new, for-profit entity set to completely restructure the look of men’s professional golf at the highest level. 

The news was initially made public on CNBC by David Faber and confirmed shortly thereafter in a press release by the PGA Tour. The name of the newly-merged golf league is still to be determined, but it is understood to be an LLC rooted in a significant investment from the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund.

“After two years of disruption and distraction, this is a historic day for the game we all know and love,” PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said. “This transformational partnership recognizes 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 organization that will benefit golf’s players, commercial and charitable partners and fans. 

“Going forward, fans can be confident that we will, collectively, deliver on the promise we’ve always made — to promote competition of the best in professional golf and that we are committed to securing and driving the game’s future.”

MORE PGA TOUR-LIV MERGER COVERAGE: Player reaction | 21 burning questions & answers | 10 shocking revelations | How the merger came to be | Brandel Chamblee sounds off | Rory, Tiger left in the dark | PGA Tour-LIV Golf timeline | Can this happen? A legal expert weighs in | Jay Monahan defends decision

The news is a 180-degree turn on what the last 12 months have been like in the men’s pro golf world. Nearly exactly 12 months ago, LIV Golf launched outside of London. The PGA Tour’s response came in the form of a letter from Monahan, disparaging the new Tour and handing out suspensions for 17 players , which included current or future Hall-of-Famers in Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson and Sergio Garcia, among others. Two months after that, 11 LIV golfers filed a lawsuit against the PGA Tour, a suit that was actively continuing as of Monday. That lawsuit and any other pending litigation between the two tours is now dropped as a result of this engagement. Mickelson quickly took to Twitter to offer just three words — “Awesome day today” — alongside a smiley-face emoji.

If the news is surprising to pro golf fans, given the vitriol and angst that has defined the men’s game in the last 12 months, it was just as stunning to PGA Tour players . Multiple members have confirmed there was no indication an agreement like this was on the table, nor that it was even being discussed. Collin Morikawa took to Twitter immediately, saying, “I love finding out morning news on Twitter”. Sahith Theegala texted Sports Illustrated writer Gabby Herzig his thoughts, saying, “I’m biting my tongue til there’s more stuff we hear. No way players are gonna be okay with this”.

Reaction from Sahith Theegala. Players just in absolute shock. pic.twitter.com/E8rCLvOtCi — Gabby Herzig (@GabbyHerzig) June 6, 2023

Monahan is expected to face Tour members in person Tuesday afternoon in a players meeting at the Canadian Open. Like he did one year ago with those suspensions, Monahan issued a separate letter to all Tour members Tuesday morning that detailed the merger. “There are many details to work through as we develop a definitive agreement,” Monahan wrote, “which will ultimately require PGA Tour Policy Board approval.”

In the meantime, he joined CNBC alongside Saudi PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan to discuss the announcement. After months and months of promising he had no interest in taking calls with LIV Golf commissioner Greg Norman, nor with the Saudi PIF leaders, there was Monahan, on set, seated right next to Al-Rumayyan.

“What’s happened today — and to your earlier question — is we’ve recognized that together we can have a far greater impact on this game than we can working apart,” Monahan said. “I give Yasir great credit for coming to the table, coming to the discussions with an open heart, and an open mind. We’ve done the same. And the game of golf is better for what we’ve done here today.”

Rumayyan was asked to discuss how the partnership came about, which he said involved a lunchtime visit in London and a round of golf and another lunch visit the next day. “We covered everything,” Al-Rumayyan said. “One of the things that I said then, had we met two or three years ago, the impact that we would have in the game of golf would be lesser.”

“Why?” Faber asked.

“Because it would be something small,” Al-Rumayyan continued. “But the way we’re doing our partnership, it’s going to be really big. In many senses. We are going to have both LIV [Golf] and the PGA Tour, in addition to all of our assets, and we will be investing in the growth of the game of golf, and doing many new things that I think will have better engagement from the players, the fans, the broadcasters, the sponsors, everyone else.”

Team golf, as we have come to understand it via LIV Golf, is clearly not going away as part of this forthcoming deal. In fact, all three tours are expected to work together to grow team golf aspects in the new venture. It is also understood that LIV golfers will be allowed to re-apply for membership into the PGA Tour and DP World Tour following the 2023 season, under “a fair and objective process … consistent with each Tour’s policies.”

As part of the merger the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund will be making an exclusive investment, and “will have the exclusive right to further invest” in the new entity moving forward. This comes after Monday’s news that the PIF would be taking majority ownership in four Saudi football clubs in hopes to lure the best soccer players from across the world to compete in its domestic league. Leave no doubt, Saudi Arabia is interested in owning and investing in professional sports. When pressed for details about the amount of investment, and the time over which it takes place, Al-Rumayyan said, “Whatever it takes, that’s how much is the commitment we are committed for.”

A new Board of Directors will be formed for the new entity, with a majority of the seats appointed by the PGA Tour, which will give the Tour a majority voting interest, according to the press release. Monahan will stay in his role as commissioner and CEO, while the governor of the PIF, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, will take on the role of chairman. The Board will include an “executive committee” with Monahan and Al-Rumayyan joined by current Tour Board Directors Ed Herlihy and Jimmy Dunne .

Embedded within the announcement is the fact that the PGA Tour’s commercial operations will now be part of a for-profit, limited liability company. PGA Tour Inc. has existed for many years as a 501(c)(6) tax-exempt entity, and according to the press release it will continue to do so. “The [501](c)(6) still stays in place,” Monahan said. “Out of the (c)(6), we will continue to operate our tours. We will put our player retirement plans and assets there. So that stays in place. I think it’s very important — and one of the things that’s important to both of us — is every single week where we’re playing tournaments, we’re making a huge impact in the communities where, you know, we’re invited guests. That continues.”

We will continue to update this story as more information is released.

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Zak is a writer at GOLF Magazine and just finished a book about the summer he spent in St. Andrews .

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Why did the PGA Tour and LIV Golf merge? Here's a full breakdown

Everything you need to know about the pga tour and liv golf merger is right here, by logan reardon • published june 6, 2023 • updated on june 6, 2023 at 12:05 pm.

The golf world was stunned on Tuesday morning.

In a shocking twist, the PGA Tour announced it would merge with the controversial LIV Golf in order to "unify the game of golf." The merger also includes the DP World Tour, which is the PGA's European Tour.

Tuesday's news answers the question of will LIV Golf survive, as the Saudi-backed tour struggled to maintain relevance despite heavy funding and the signings of star players.

Here's a full breakdown of the merger, including details on LIV Golf and what happens next:

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When did LIV Golf form?

LIV Golf was founded in 2021 before playing its inaugural season in 2022.

The tour was owned by the Public Investment Fund, which is Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund. Two-time major champion Greg Norman served as CEO and the public face of the league.

Why did LIV golfers leave the PGA?

There were a few benefits for players joining LIV Golf.

First and foremost, golfers received massive money from the PIF. Phil Mickelson reportedly signed a $200 million contract to join LIV, while Dustin Johnson ($150 million), Bryson DeChambeau ($125 million), Brooks Koepka ($100 million) and Cameron Smith ($100 million) also reached nine-figure bonuses.

After signing their contracts just to join, players were awarded increased prize money during their tournaments. It was a clear message to the PGA Tour that players felt they were not being compensated fairly.

Beyond just the money, there were several other benefits that players saw with LIV. They played fewer tournaments each year (14 were scheduled for 2023 compared to 47 PGA events), with smaller fields and three rounds instead of four in each tournament.

LIV also utilized shotgun starts, meaning that every player began their round at the same time on different holes -- which meant the days were shorter.

What is the LIV Golf controversy?

The concern about LIV Golf was always about where the money came from.

Saudi Arabia funded the tour. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has been involved in multiple controversies, including human rights violations of his own people, the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi and the government's alleged involvement in the Sept. 11 attacks in the U.S.

The ethics of players taking money from the country has been debated endlessly since players started defecting. Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods have both been outspoken against the league, with the latter reportedly turning down between $700 and $800 million to join.

A LIV Golf timeline

The PGA's rival tour is coming to an end but let's look back at some of the highlights over the last two years.

What is the 2023 LIV Golf Schedule? Courses, countries new tour will visit

Who are the Top 20 LIV golfers in 2023?

LIV Golf Announces TV Partnership With CW Network

While PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan previously condemned LIV Golf and discouraged players from taking their money, the merger seems to be a sellout of sorts. As part of the agreement, the PIF will contribute a "significant financial investment, toward minority equity ownership of a new, collectively held, for-profit LLC." The PIF will make a financial investment to become a premier corporate sponsor of the PGA Tour and DP World Tour.

What happens with PGA and LIV lawsuits now?

As part of the merger, PGA and LIV mutually agreed to end all pending litigation between the parties.

LIV sued the PGA last year for allegedly engaging in monopolistic behavior by creating rules intended to stop golfers from playing in rival leagues. PGA sought subpoenas for a countersuit alleging that LIV illegally pushed players to break contracts with the PGA by offering exorbitant sums of money.

The case was expected to go to trial next May, but that obviously will not happen after the merger.

What happens to PGA and LIV golfers now?

Here's what was said in the official announcement :

"The three organizations will work cooperatively and in good faith to establish a fair and objective process for any players who desire to re-apply for membership with the PGA TOUR or the DP World Tour following the completion of the 2023 season and for determining fair criteria and terms of re-admission, consistent with each Tour's policies."

LIV Golfers were already eligible to play in major championships, so the merger doesn't change anything there. Koepka became the first LIV Golf player to win a major when he triumphed at the PGA Championship last month.

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PGA Tour’s Pact With Saudi Wealth Fund Shows Many Details Left to Settle

The five-page agreement provoked a furor but included only a handful of binding provisions.

By Alan Blinder

The PGA Tour’s tentative deal with Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund to form an alliance with the rival LIV Golf series includes only a handful of binding commitments — such as a nondisparagement agreement and a pledge to dismiss acrimonious litigation — and leaves many of the most consequential details about the future of men’s professional golf to be negotiated by the end of the year.

The five-page framework agreement was obtained by The New York Times on Monday, the day the tour shared a copy of it with a Senate subcommittee that plans to hold a July hearing about the deal.

The proposed deal, announced on June 6 by the tour and the wealth fund, the financial force behind the renegade LIV Golf circuit, has caused an uproar throughout the golf industry. But a review of the agreement points to the rushed nature of the secret, seven-week talks that led to the deal and the complex path that remains ahead for the new venture, a potential triumph for Saudi Arabia’s quest to gain power and influence in sports and, its critics say, to distract from its reputation as a human rights abuser.

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 the framework agreement includes no substantive details of projected figures or even the size of an anticipated cash investment from the wealth fund.

Instead, much of the agreement focuses on the basic structure of the new company that is to house what the accord describes as all of the “commercial businesses/rights” of the PGA Tour and the European Tour, now known as the DP World Tour.

The wealth fund is expected to contribute its “golf-related investments and assets,” including the LIV circuit that split the sport, and will have the first opportunity to invest in the new company. The tentative agreement says that the PGA Tour is to maintain “at all times a controlling voting interest” in the new company, but that Yasir al-Rumayyan, the wealth fund’s governor, will serve as the chairman of the new joint entity. Jay Monahan, the PGA Tour commissioner who recently went on leave because of an unspecified “medical situation,” is in line to become its chief executive.

The new company, according to the agreement, could pursue “targeted mergers and acquisitions to globalize the sport” and may look to incorporate “innovations from LIV,” such as the team golf concept that the league has championed since it debuted last year.

Those provisions, though, are not binding until the tour and the wealth fund strike a final agreement. Instead, the only ironclad caveats of the agreement involve seeking the dismissal of litigation , a mandate fulfilled on June 16; a ban on recruiting players to rival circuits; a deadline of Dec. 31 to sign final accords, absent a mutual extension; and confidentiality and nondisparagement clauses.

The effective gag agreement appears far-reaching and prohibits the tour and the wealth fund from “any defamatory or disparaging remarks, comments or statements” about the other side and any “ultimate beneficial owners” — a phrase that could be interpreted to include the Saudi government, which the tour had previously condemned for its human rights record.

“I recognize everything that I’ve said in the past and in my prior positions,” Monahan, a leading architect of the deal, said this month. “I recognize 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.”

Saudi officials have denied that their investments in sports, which include efforts in soccer , Formula 1 racing and boxing, are intended to sanitize the kingdom’s reputation. Instead, they have depicted those investments as a glossy component of a sweeping effort to diversify the country’s economy under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s de facto leader who is also the wealth fund’s chairman.

Al-Rumayyan, the wealth fund’s governor, signed the agreement on behalf of the Saudis, with no evidence of direct involvement by Greg Norman, LIV’s commissioner.

Monahan and Keith Pelley, the DP World Tour’s chief executive, effectively represented the golf establishment when they signed the deal behind closed doors in San Francisco on May 30. It was sprung upon almost the entire golf industry, including most of the PGA Tour’s board, a week later.

The board, which has been considering the deal that it was largely shut out of negotiating, is expected to discuss the pact’s initial terms during a meeting in Detroit on Tuesday. The 11-member board is not believed to be planning a vote yet because the final nuances of the accord may not be hammered out for months.

The deal faces scrutiny well beyond the tour’s board. In Washington , Justice Department officials and congressional investigators are preparing to pore over the details of the accord, which antitrust regulators could ultimately try to block. The tour shared a copy of the agreement with a Senate subcommittee on Monday evening, just more than two weeks before a hearing on Capitol Hill that many expect to become contentious.

But tour executives concluded in recent months that the new economic order that LIV’s swift rise provoked — swelling legal bills, larger prize purses, a diluted product with the world’s most marketable players competing against one another only four times a year at golf’s major tournaments — was unsustainable. They sought a détente with the Saudis and found a receptive audience in and around the wealth fund, where some officials were frustrated by a series of legal setbacks connected to LIV and uneven success in gaining traction in the crucial American sports market.

The second paragraph of the framework nodded toward the turmoil, with the tour and the wealth fund saying they were interested in “ending divisions.” Some elements of the deal amounted to olive branches. In one section, for instance, the two sides agreed to “cooperate in good faith and use best efforts” to bring secure Official World Golf Ranking accreditation for LIV events.

The fate of LIV, which sapped the PGA Tour of some of its star players after offering exorbitant contracts and prize purses, is not included in a binding part of the deal. Instead, the new company, if it comes to pass, is expected to “undertake a full and objective empirical data-driven evaluation of LIV and its prospects and potential.”

The framework does not outline any financial penalties if the deal does not ultimately progress, but it says the tour and the wealth fund “can revert to operating their respective businesses” if the agreement collapses.

Alan Blinder is a sports reporter. He has reported from more than 30 states, as well as Asia and Europe, since he joined The Times in 2013. More about Alan Blinder

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PGA Tour and Saudi-backed LIV merge in stunning end to bitter golf rivalry

The PGA Tour and Saudi-backed LIV Golf announced a merger Tuesday in a stunning end to their bitter rivalry on the fairways, in the courts and on the geopolitical stage.

PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan, who once said playing in LIV events would warrant an apology , said the deal would benefit the sport.

“After two years of disruption and distraction, this is a historic day for the game we all know and love,” M onahan said in a statement . "Going forward, fans can be confident that we will, collectively, deliver on the promise we’ve always made — to promote competition of the best in professional golf and that we are committed to securing and driving the game’s future."

Monahan told CNBC the move was necessary to grow the sport.

"There’s been a lot of tension in our sport for the last couple of years. But what we’re talking about today is coming together to unify the game of golf and to do so under one umbrella," he said.

"Together, we’re going to move forward, and we’re going to take efforts to grow and expand this great game and take it to new heights."

Golf legend Phil Mickelson, who had led prominent players away from the PGA Tour to help form LIV, tweeted his approval of the news Tuesday morning.

And former President Donald Trump, a backer of LIV, took a victory lap Tuesday , declaring he had predicted that the PGA Tour would have to come to an agreement with the Saudi-backed golf operation.

Loved ones of 9/11 victims have protested outside of LIV events, drawing attention to Saudi connections to the 2001 terrorist attacks .

"PGA Tour leaders should be ashamed of their hypocrisy and greed," 9/11 Families United Chair Terry Strada said in a statement Tuesday.

"Our entire 9/11 community has been betrayed by Commissioner Monahan and the PGA as it appears their concern for our loved ones was merely window-dressing in their quest for money — it was never to honor the great game of golf," Strada said. 

While the deal carries some risk for the PGA Tour, George Washington University sports marketing professor Lisa Delpy Neirotti said players, consumers and golf sponsors ultimately have short memories and just want to see the world’s best tee off every weekend.

“Players just want to get paid, and they want to play against their top competitors — and fans want it, too,” she said. “They don’t want to not have the top players playing in the PGA.” 

The agreement will also end all litigation p rompted by the PGA Tour 's suspension of players who had ignored its threats and played in LIV events.

The desire to end lawsuits was most likely a key factor in the unusual union, though Univers i ty of Buffalo sports law professor Hellen "Nellie" Drew said new lawsuits could come into play from sponsors unhappy with Saudi involvement.

"Typically these agreements have some kind of good faith morals clause," Drew said. "You [a sponsor] want the goodwill associated with the PGA Tour. Now that PGA Tour's goodwill is substantially connected to human rights issues, that's a whole different animal. That's not what you're paying for."

LIV was formed in 2022 with 48 players led by Mickelson, along with Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka, with a prize fund of $405 million; they and other high-profile players reportedly got deals of at least $100 million to leave the PGA Tour.

Tuesday's announcement came nearly a year after Monahan blasted players for signing up for LIV events, saying association with the Saudi fund would leave a moral stain.

A dramatic and stern-faced Monahan said last year he knows families who lost loved ones in the 9/11 attacks and told LIV golfers to take a long look in the mirror before they accepted Saudi government money.

“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?’” Monahan said from Toronto on the CBS telecast of the RBC Canadian Open.

The merger didn't come as a complete surprise to veteran U.S. diplomat Richard N. Haass.

"I thought it was near-inevitable, as LIV was not going away, given Saudi financial support and strength of several LIV golfers," said Haass, the p resident of the Council on Foreign Relations .

"Plus, efforts to isolate the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia were fading in the wake of the president's visit to and subsequent developments," he said.

Sports has been an increasingly important tool of the Saudi government’s efforts to ingratiate itself on the world stage and gloss over the kingdom’s human rights record. Critics of the kingdom have called the practice “sportswashing.”

• While advancing in age, 38-year-old soccer legend Cristiano Ronaldo could still play in an upper-tier world league. But he opted for playing in the Saudi Pro League this past season .
• The venerable English Premier League club Newcastle United was bought by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund .
• The kingdom boasts of the world’s richest horse race, the Saudi Cup, with a purse of $20 million.
• Saudi interests, among other Middle Eastern entities, have become increasing major players in Formula One racing .

“PGA Commissioner Jay Monahan co-opted the 9/11 community last year in the PGA’s unequivocal agreement that the Saudi LIV project was nothing more than sportswashing of Saudi Arabia’s reputation," said Strada, whose husband , Tom, an avid golfer, was killed in the North Tower nearly 21 years ago.

"But now the PGA and Monahan appear to have become just more paid Saudi shills, taking billions of dollars to cleanse the Saudi reputation so that Americans and the world will forget how the Kingdom spent their billions of dollars before 9/11 to fund terrorism, spread their vitriolic hatred, and finance al Qaeda and the murder of our loved ones. Make no mistake — we will never forget.” 

Neirotti, of George Washington University, said she doesn't expect Saudi money to go away any time soon.

"I mean, the EPL sold out, they took blood money," she said, referring to the English Premier League. "And trust me, many American companies are doing work in Saudi Arabia. Deloitte , name every big consulting company, you don't think they don't have their hands in Saudi Arabia?"

CORRECTION (June 6, 2023, 7:30 p.m. ET): A previous version of this article misstated the organization that merged with LIV Golf. It is the PGA Tour, not the PGA, which is a separate organization.

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

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

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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.

PGA Tour’s Jay Monahan gives update on merger negotiations with LIV Golf: ‘It’s going to take time’

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said negotiations with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia are ongoing and that he and investors flew to Saudi Arabia in January to meet with PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan.

Speaking at his annual news conference before the Players Championship, Monahan maintained that a deal with PIF is the best outcome for the PGA Tour and that he and Al-Rumayyan have a “shared vision” for how to end division and grow the sport.

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But, Monahan made sure to clarify multiple times, “It’s going to take time.”

Citing the ongoing nature of those discussions as he’s done for the past nine months, Monahan declined to expand on any details of where things stand with PIF. For example, he did not comment on any potential path back on Tour for LIV golfers or if there’s a future for team golf in a hypothetical agreement.

The PGA Tour also partnered with Strategic Sports Group (SSG), a consortium of billionaire investors, who invested $3 billion to help form the new PGA Tour Enterprises in February. Monahan said SSG agreed it was important to engage with PIF, and SSG investors went with Monahan to meet with PIF in January before finalizing the deal. He did not think the SSG deal made PIF negotiations more difficult or discouraged them.

“I do believe that negotiating a deal with PIF is the best outcome,” Monahan said. “Obviously it has to be the right deal for both sides, like any situation or negotiation.”

Monahan was asked often about frustration from his PGA Tour membership with how this has been handled and whether or not LIV players should be allowed a return back. He did not deny a direct question asking if the PGA Tour policy board has ever asked him to resign, saying there has been lively debate but he considers it now a unified front.

“I can’t generalize as it relates to players,” Monahan said, “but clearly given the responsibility I’ve been given by both boards, I have the support of our board, and I am the right person to lead us forward. I know that. I believe that in my heart, and I’m determined to do exactly that.”

Monahan also spoke about refocusing on golf fans. Golf as a sport is at its most popular, thanks in part to a golf boom during COVID-19, and Monahan said much of the hope for SSG getting a return on its investment is to provide more value for fans. He said feedback from fans has been a desire to see more golf shots during coverage, more data and analytics and more innovations like mic’d up segments with mid-round interviews of golfers.

Required reading

• PGA Tour, PIF miss Dec. 31 merger deadline, extend negotiations into 2024
• Who are the men behind LIV-PGA merger? What to know about Jay Monahan, Yasir Al-Rumayyan

(Photo: Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images)

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Brody Miller covers golf and the LSU Tigers for The Athletic. He came to The Athletic from the New Orleans Times-Picayune. A South Jersey native, Miller graduated from Indiana University before going on to stops at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Indianapolis Star, the Clarion Ledger and NOLA.com. Follow Brody on Twitter @ BrodyAMiller

PGA Tour policy board member Randall Stephenson resigns over deal with LIV Golf: report

A longtime PGA Tour policy board member resigned Sunday over concerns about the tour's deal to merge business operations with Saudi-backed LIV Golf , according to a report from The Washington Post .

Randall Stephenson, a former AT&T executive and policy board member since 2012, resigned from his position because he "had serious concerns” with the deal with LIV Golf, and it "is not one that I can objectively evaluate or in good conscience support," he wrote, according to a copy of his resignation letter obtained by The Washington Post.

"I joined this board 12 years ago to serve the best players in the world and to expand the virtues of sportsmanship instilled through the game of golf,” Stephenson wrote. "I hope, as this board moves forward, it will comprehensively rethink its governance model and keep its options open to evaluate alternative sources of capital beyond the current framework agreement."

Stephenson reportedly cited the death of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist, as one of the reasons he could not support the LIV Golf deal. The Saudi government, which funds LIV Golf through the state's Public Investment Fund, has been accused of involvement in Khashoggi's death.

Stephenson also said he had planned to resign on June 12, six days after the PGA Tour-LIV Golf deal was announced, but delayed his resignation after PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan announced on June 13 he was taking a leave of absence while recovering from an unspecified medical issue. On Friday, Monahan said he will return to the tour on July 17.

The PGA Tour confirmed Stephenson's resignation to USA TODAY Sports via a memo sent to members Sunday night.

"We wanted to notify you that Randall Stephenson has resigned from his position on the PGA TOUR Policy Board. Please join us in thanking Randall for his exemplary service to this organization and dedication to you – the membership – for more than 12 years," the statement read.

The departure of Stephenson comes days before the PGA Tour is set to testify before a Senate subcommittee surrounding its deal with LIV Golf.

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'too many people are losing interest': liv golf players agree the current state of professional golf is 'unsustainable', share this article.

PGA Tour and LIV Golf players finally have something to agree on – the divide and current state of professional golf is unsustainable.

Rory McIlroy has been outspoken on the topic over the last few months, and a week before the two sides reunite for the first major of the year at the 2024 Masters – 13 LIV players will tee it up at Augusta National – a handful of LIV’s captains explained why the game needs to come back together sooner rather than later.

“The fans are what drive this sport. If we don’t have fans, we don’t have golf. We are not up here entertaining. That’s the most important thing as of right now, the low-hanging fruit. There’s got to be a way to come together,” said Bryson DeChambeau ahead of this week’s LIV Golf Miami event at Trump National Doral. “It’s not sustainable for sure, and we all respect that and recognize that and want the best for the game of golf. We all love this game and we want to keep playing it and we want to keep competing.”

“And it needs to happen fast. It’s not a two-year thing,” he added. “Like it needs to happen quicker rather than later just for the good of the sport. Too many people are losing interest.”

Jon Rahm, the biggest name to make the jump to LIV from the PGA Tour ahead of the 2024 season, believes there’s enough room in the professional golf sandbox for both circuits.

“I think there’s room for both. It’s as simple as that. I think we have the opportunity to end up with an even better product for the spectators and the fans of the game, a little bit more variety doesn’t really hurt anybody,” said Rahm, who will look to defend his Masters title next week. “I think properly done, we can end up with a much better product that can take golf to the next level worldwide, and I’m hoping that’s what ends up happening.”

“I agree with that. I think in the end, we are in a transitional state where we now have competition and that’s leading to a lot of disruption and change but it’s also in the end product going to make golf more global where the best players travel more,” added Phil Mickelson, a three-time Masters champion. “I don’t know how it’s going to end out, exactly, or what it’s going to look like. I’m putting my trust in Yasir and where the game is headed more globally. But at some point when it gets ironed out, I think it’s going to be in a much better place where we bring the best players from the world, and it’s going to open up more opportunities for manufacturing, course design, for players in different parts of the world to be inspired and enter the game. I think it’s going to be in a much better place.”

Mickelson said the game is in a “disruption phase” that started back in 2022 when he and the first crop of players took their talents to the Saudi-backed league. Since then, the PGA Tour has made drastic changes to its schedule and has created a for-profit entity, PGA Tour Enterprises, with initial funding of $1.5 billion from the Strategic Sports Group, an outside investment group comprised of various owners of teams in other professional sports leagues.

PGA Tour Enterprises was initially supposed to be backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund – LIV’s longtime financier – as part of the framework agreement that was announced and shocked the golf world on June 6, 2023. The new entity is still considering as much as a $3 billion investment from the PIF in the wake of a meeting between PIF governor, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, and the Tour’s leadership in the Bahamas last month.

The U.S. Department of Justice and Senate both have a keen interest in the proposed deal, which doesn’t appear to be anywhere near completion, much to the chagrin of players on both sides of the professional golf aisle.

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Bryson DeChambeau's plea for PGA Tour and LIV Golf merger backfires as fans turn on him

B ryson DeChambeau has once again called for an end to the divide in professional golf, as PGA Tour and LIV Golf stars prepare to meet in competition again at the Masters.

Bryson was one of the first big golfers to leave the PGA Tour for the lucrative LIV Golf circuit. Now, after two years with the Saudi-backed tour, he is saying that the golf leaders need to make a deal to bring everyone back together.

Last year, the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, and LIV Golf made a surprise announcement about an agreement to merge the three circuits. However the original December 31 deadline and come and gone, and despite several rounds of talks, there appears to be no confirmation of any deal.

Ahead of LIV's latest event in Miami, DeChambeau was asked for his views on the merger, and some fans were unimpressed by his demands for peace, considering his initial stance.

READ MORE: Phil Mickelson faces fresh accusation from old enemy after LIV Golf decision

READ MORE: Four PGA Tour stars accused of failing Rory McIlroy over LIV Golf stance

The former U.S. Open champion shared his thoughts: "The only answer is for us to somehow come together in some sort of terms where it makes sense and for us to be playing all again in somewhat of the same boat. It's great to have the majors where we come together, but we want to be competing, at least I want to be competing every week, with all of the best players in the world for sure.

"And it needs to happen fast. It's not a two-year thing. Like it needs to happen quicker rather than later just for the good of the sport. Too many people are losing interest."

Social media users were quick to respond, pointing out the irony of DeChambeau's comments. One said: "We need to come back together'. Says the guy who helped tear it apart."

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Another added: "Can you imagine saying there's a problem when you took part in the problem? I can't relate. Hope he misses the cut nasty nasty at the masters and I will gladly be watching."

DeChambeau believes fans are the biggest losers from the PGA Tour-LIV Golf split, and he has urged power brokers to figure out a deal as soon as possible.

"Well there's multiple ways that you can solve this problem," DeChambeau said when asked for is solution. "I think that from a player's perspective, it needs to come back together for the fans, No. 1. The fans are what drive this sport. If we don't have fans, we don't have golf.

"We are not up here entertaining. That's the most important thing as of right now, the low-hanging fruit. There's got to be a way to come together. How that comes together, that's above all of us out here. We can give input. We can have little moments where we say, hey, we think this would be a good idea or that would be a good idea.

"But ultimately, it's up to the guys up top to figure it out and figure it out quickly because we can't keep going this direction. It's not sustainable for sure, and we all respect that and recognise that and want the best for the game of golf. We all love this game and we want to keep playing it and we want to keep competing."