PGA, LIV merge, ending lawsuits but posing challenges as players come back together

by Jim Bebbington

After more than a year of discord and lawsuits, the PGA Tour and the entity that runs the LIV Golf Tour announced Tuesday they are merging, along with the DP World Tour, which was previously known as the European Tour.

The PGA TOUR, DP World Tour and PIF announce landmark agreement to unify men’s professional golf.

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 6, 2023

The merger combines the three most notable and visible professional golf tours in the world, and puts an end to lawsuits over whether LIV players should have access to tournaments on the two other tours. The PGA Tour and DP Tour banned LIV players from playing in their events, and several players criticized it for its association with the regime that runs Saudi Arabia.

The LIV Tour operators, the Public Investment Fund, (PIF), is the sovereign investment arm of Saudi Arabia. Those Saudi ties are among the issues that some PGA Tour pros voiced in opposition to LIV when it was first launched in 2022.

The groups announced they have agreed to combine “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.”

The new entity was launched before it even had a name.

LIV’s executive director, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, will serve as chairman and PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan will serve as Chief Executive Officer. In addition to heading up LIV, Al-Rumayyan is the director of the $600 billion Saudi PIF.

“After two years of disruption and distraction, this is a historic day for the game we all know and love,” said PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan. “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.”

The move is widely being seen as a huge victory for the breakaway LIV players, many of whom received millions to join the league a year ago but now do not appear to face any downside as they will likely be able to return to PGA Tour play.

One local PGA professional, Lakewood’s Jim Knous, said the announcement was shocking.”At the moment everyone is still trying to comprehend what it might mean for professionals at every level,” he said. “I would guess the whole structure of the tour(s) will be reworked and pro golf will look a lot different in two or three years. Whether the end result is good or bad for the game I suppose time will tell.”

Knous is playing on the Korn Ferry Tour this season and has been a professional golfer since 2012.

“My reaction today was surprise and disappointment because we the players have been told for a year now that this is not who we want to be affiliated with. Now that the PGA Tour is joining forces with the LIV Tour it seems hypocritical. For now, I’ll keep trying to get the ball in the hole in as few shots as possible!”