“Awesome day today” (Phil Mickelson, LIV Golf)
“Great news from LIV Golf. A big, beautiful, wonderful deal for the wonderful world of golf. Congratulations to all” (former US President Donald Trump)
“The saddest day in golf history. The PGA Tour has sold the future of the game.” (PGA Tour player and golf analyst Brandon Chamblee)
The world of golf was rocked on July 7 when the PGA Tour, DP World Tour (formerly the European Tour) and LIV Golf, backed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund (PIF), issued a joint statement announcing that they had “reached a landmark agreement to unify the game of golf globally.” “After two years of turmoil, this is a historic day for the game we all love,” said PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan. “This innovative partnership brings together the DP World Tour and LIV to create an organization that will benefit players.”
The announcement of the partnership comes as a surprise to PGA Tour Commissioner Monahan, who has labeled players involved in LIV Golf as “traitors” and banned them from the PGA Tour since its launch last June.
The agreement announced by the PGA Tour, PIF and DP World Tour consists of three main parts.
First, the three organizations will create a jointly owned for-profit entity to operate the world golf tour. The new tour will include the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and LIV Golf.
“The golf-related business rights of PIF, including LIV Golf, will be combined with the business rights of the PGA Tour and DP World Tour and transferred to a new jointly owned for-profit entity,” the joint declaration reads. The new entity will provide competition for the world’s best players.” However, the remainder of this year’s PGA Tour and LIV Golf schedules are expected to proceed as planned.
Second, while the PGA Tour will be the majority owner of the new jointly owned for-profit entity, PIF will be the exclusive investor. PGA Commissioner Jay Monahan will serve as the new entity’s chief executive officer, and PIF President Yasir Al-Rumayyan will serve as chairman.
Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, PIF, is effectively buying World Golf. “PIF will make a capital investment to fuel the growth and success of the new entity,” the joint statement reads. The new entity, which is yet to be named, will grow the business and engage more fans.”
Third, LIVGolf players will be able to return to the PGA Tour and DP World Tour if they choose. The PGA Tour, DP World Tour, and LIV Golf will dismiss all pending litigation.
“We are committed to working together through an objective and fair process for players who wish to reapply for membership on the PGA Tour or DP World Tour following the conclusion of the 2023 season,” the joint statement reads.
“Further details will be announced as they become available,” the three organizations added. PIF President Yasir Al-Rumayyan said that “agreeing on the details will not take more than a few weeks.”
How did the PGA Tour and LIV Golf go from arch-enemies to suddenly declared partners? “We had two meals in London, England, played a round of golf together, talked a lot and came to an agreement,” PGA Tour Commissioner Monahan and PIF President Yasir Al-Rumayyan told U.S. broadcaster CNBC.
But some analysts attribute the sharp turnaround in relations between the two countries, which not long ago were on opposite ends of the spectrum, to the diplomatic impact of Washington’s decision to align itself with China’s oil yuan settlement and embrace Saudi Arabia, which has been a vocal opponent of U.S. policy. PIF, a Saudi sovereign wealth fund, is chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the country’s de facto ruler. U.S. intelligence officials point to him as the mastermind behind the 2018 murder of Saudi-born Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi. U.S. President Joe Biden has been a vocal critic of the case since taking office. The launch of LIV was interpreted by much of the U.S. media as a way for bin Salman to use golf as a form of sportswashing. The PGA Tour has also criticized the move.
The day the U.S. and Saudi Arabia agreed to end their de facto golf war was the day U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken arrived in Saudi Arabia for a three-day official visit. Blinken will meet with Saudi Crown Prince bin Salman and participate in a U.S.-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) ministerial meeting. Media outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, are analyzing Blinken’s trip to Saudi Arabia as a way to keep China in check as it increases its presence in the Middle East. In March, Saudi Arabia normalized diplomatic relations with Iran after a seven-year hiatus, thanks to Chinese mediation, and has been moving to accept yuan payments for oil. Recently, the kingdom announced another production cut on April 4, defying U.S. wishes to stabilize international oil prices, which have been shaken by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
One interpretation is that the U.S. is in earnest in its appeasement of Saudi Arabia, effectively handing a gift to LIV Golf, which is led by Crown Prince bin Salman.
Mickelson, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, and others who were signed to LIV Golf for hundreds of millions of dollars to tens of millions of dollars are now killing two birds with one stone.
On the other hand, players such as Tiger Woods (USA) and Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland), who rejected LIV’s lucrative offer and opted to stay on the PGA Tour, felt deeply betrayed. LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman (AUS), who spearheaded the launch of LIV Golf, was not informed of the three organizations’ agreement in advance and will be excluded from the new organization.
Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund PIF founded LIV Golf in October 2021, shaking up the world’s men’s golf scene, which was previously split between the PGA Tour and DP World Tour, by acquiring players with its deep pockets, and then winning the war against the PGA Tour by leading the new organization in a surprise agreement.
The PGA Tour, which has been antagonizing LIV Golf and its players in the name of American values and golf, has been forced to bow its head.
The families of the victims of the 9-11 attacks, who have been protesting against LIV Golf’s presence in the U.S., directly and strongly criticized the PGA Tour. They believe LIV Golf’s funding source, Saudi Arabia, was responsible for the 9-11 attacks.
“Jay Monahan spoke last summer about those who lost loved ones on 9-11 and demanded an apology from golfers who moved to LIV Golf,” said Terry Strada, 9/11 Families United chair. “PGA Tour leaders should be ashamed of their hypocrisy and greed,” he said in a strongly worded statement. “We have been betrayed by Monahan and the PGA Tour,” Strada said. “Their concern for us has been a mere veneer of money, never for the great game of golf.” “The Saudis, who are responsible for terrorism, will now fund all of professional golf, and the United States and the world will forget that the Saudis have spent billions of dollars funding terrorism.”
