On Tuesday, the PGA Tour and LIV Golf, a golf league endorsed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, reached a merger agreement, ending a long-standing fight for dominance in men’s professional golf. The feud had polarized influential players, stakeholders, and avid fans of the sport. The merged organization will be headed by the Saudi fund’s governor.
While the announcement was shocking given the prolonged legal battle between the two sides, it did not come as a surprise to many industry observers who had anticipated the possibility ever since LIV entered the scene last year. Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, and Phil Mickelson were among the big names lured by LIV, with substantial guaranteed contracts sometimes valued at more than $100 million and lofty tournament prize pools, making it the richest in golf history.
In addition, the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, which had bankrolled LIV, and the PGA tour released a joint statement on Tuesday with the DP World Tour, which is also covered by the agreement, saying the former adversaries will “implement a plan to grow these combined commercial businesses, drive greater fan engagement and accelerate growth initiatives already underway.”
Jay Monahan, the commissioner of the PGA Tour, said, “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” according to the statement released by the parties.
According to the tentative agreement announced on Tuesday, exclusively, at first, the Public Investment Fund will serve as the blended operation’s primary investor, along with the established tours and LIV. Yasir al-Rumayyan, the wealth fund’s governor, will be the merged group’s chairperson, and Monahan is expected to be its CEO.
The PGA Tour, which has been the dominant force in professional golf, retaliated by banning any players who joined the new league from its matches. In legal filings and public statements, the tour claimed that the Saudi-backed league was undermining the sport’s integrity and serving mainly as a front for Saudi efforts to restore the kingdom’s reputation.
By noon on Tuesday, the high-stakes brinksmanship of golf had ended, and promises were made to offer “a fair and impartial process for any players” who want to be reinstated by the PGA Tour or its European counterpart.
