PGA and LIV Golf Join Forces In Surprise Merger

Sam Batz

The world of professional golf was thrown for a loop when a new Saudi Arabia-backed golf league was announced in 2022. This new league, which they called LIV Golf, was meant to rival the PGA Tour, and although it sounded far-fetched at the time, once the money started flying it became glaringly obvious that LIV Golf wasn’t messing around. They began offering huge sums of money to some of the top-golfers in the world, and before we could fathom the implications of a rival league going against the PGA, many of the game’s best golfers were signing contracts with LIV. After LIV Golf announced their intentions to rival the PGA, two camps began to emerge amongst professional golfers. There were those who stuck by the PGA, citing the historical significance of upholding the PGA as an institution, and those who took the money. 

USA Today reported in July of 2022 that 7 of the world’s top-10 highest paid golfers now play for LIV Golf. Big names like Tiger Woods, Rory Mcllroy, and Jordan Spieth remained stalwart supporters of the PGA Tour, turning down massive amounts of money to remain in the Associations good graces. Woods supposedly turned down an offer “in the high nine digits”, while Spieth and Mcllroy have been adamant in their support for the PGA over LIV. However, those three were the outliers, as other top golfers like: Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, and Phil Mickelson, all accepted offers of $100 to $200 million guaranteed from LIV. The division amongst fans, sponsors, and the world’s top-players was at an all time high, but the PGA’s crisis, sparked by the sudden appearance of an insurgent golf league, seems to have reached its end. 

The PGA Tour and LIV Golf announced on Tuesday, June 6th that they have agreed to a merger, ending the contentious and costly battle for the right to rule men’s golf. In the statement announcing the merger, after two years of disruption and distraction, the two golfing bodies agreed to join forces in order to “promote and grow the game globally for the benefit of all stakeholders”. All pending litigation will come to an end and the PGA, DP World Tour, and the Public Investment Fund (PIF), the entity responsible for creating LIV Golf, will work together to unify the sport on a global scale. The overarching goal of the merger is to bridge the gap that formed between the PGA and the rest of the golfing world after the announcement and implementation of LIV Golf on the world stage. Those responsible for the deal are hopeful that the new partnership will create an innovative experience for fans that pushes professional golf to new heights.  

Some notable parts of the deal include:

• The Public Investment Fund (PIF) will have “right of first refusal on new investments in the merged tour”, meaning there is a chance for Saudi Arabia to garner more ownership of the tour, and golf as a sport, in the future if the tour needs to raise more money. 
• The PGA Tour and PIF issued a joint statement which read, “we will implement a plan to grow these combined commercial businesses, drive greater fan engagement, and accelerate growth initiatives already underway.” 
• Jay Monahan, the PGA Tour commissioner, is expected to become the new group’s CEO, and Yasir al-Rumayyan, the wealth fund’s governor, will be its chairman. 

The deal was so new and so sudden that the new for-profit company, which will combine the commercial businesses and rights of both the PGA and LIV Golf, doesn’t even have a name yet. PIF, which is controlled by the Saudi crown prince, is prepared to invest billions of new capital into the new entity, but specific terms of the deal have not been disclosed. According to CNBC, the merger is expected to be finalized “in a matter of weeks”, pending PGA Tour policy board approval, but everyone involved is extremely excited about what this means for the future of professional golf. The sports popularity is rapidly growing outside the U.S., and those responsible for the deal believe it will elevate golf on the global stage. And of course, increase their profits. 

PIF has reportedly invested $2 billion into LIV already, and now with the backing of the PGA, they are likely preparing to funnel even more capital into the sport. LIV Golf looked to change the sport entirely, with aspirations to create franchises and teams that could be bought and sold. That goal will likely be put on hold for now, and while the future of golf remains a mystery, we do know that the animosity between the PGA and LIV Golf is finally over. The pros can get back to focusing on golf, and can stop fighting about money, legacy, and the future of the sport millions have grown to love. The merger puts an end to the hostility between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf, and all parties involved are working diligently to finalize the terms of the agreement, with details to be announced in due course.