The golf world is about to embark on a new era. After a year of battling each other, the PGA Tour will merge with LIV Golf to unify the game of golf, on a global basis, per Sports Illustrated. The PGA Tour entered an agreement with the DP World Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), the financial backer of the LIV Golf League. According to ESPN, the blockbuster deal was reached without the knowledge of many PGA Tour members and LIV Golf players.
“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 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.”
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“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.”
PIF Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan is also happy with the move. “Today is a very exciting day for this special game and the people it touches around the world,” he said. “We are proud to partner with the PGA Tour to leverage PIF’s unparalleled success and track record of unlocking value and bringing innovation and global best practices to businesses and sectors worldwide. 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.”
LIV Golf was led by two-time Open Championship winner Greg Norman. He along with 11 of its players, including Bryson DeChambeau and Phil Mickelson, sued the PGA Tour in federal court last year, alleging the organization had used its monopoly power to eliminate the competition and influence vendors, media companies and others from working with LIV Golf, which officially launched a week ago. The agreement ends all pending litigation between the parties.
