The golf world is on the verge of major change. The PGA Tour just signed an agreement to merge with its upstart Saudi Arabia-backed rival LIV Golf to form a new, larger golf organization.
The move would end all pending litigation between the two parties—including an anti-trust lawsuit—and combine their commercial businesses and rights into a new company that’s yet to be named, including the PGA European Tour.
It’s a huge shake up for the typically staid world of professional golf, which has been upended by the rise of LIV backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. CNBC reports that the PIF is set to invest billions of dollars into the new entity. Players who have previously departed the PGA Tour for LIV would be welcome to reapply in a “fair and objective process.”
“There is much work to do to get us from a framework agreement to a definitive agreement, but one thing is obvious: through this transformational agreement and with PIF’s collaborative investment, the immeasurable strength of the PGA Tour’s history, legacy and pro-competitive model not only remains intact, but is supercharged for the future,” wrote PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan in a memo to players.
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The New York Times reports that Yasir al-Rumayyan, the governor of the PIF, will become chairman of the new joint organization, while Monahan will serve as CEO.
LIV has upended the golf world by peeling high-profile golfers like Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson away from the PGA Tour with massive signing bonuses and paydays. The moves have not come without controversy, as many have accused Saudi Arabia of using entities like LIV to “sportswash” the country’s poor human rights record. Mickelson lost many of his big-name sponsorships after moving to LIV.
Details of the agreement still need to be hammered out and approved by the PGA Tour policy board, so stay tuned.
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