The PGA Tour and rebel league LIV Golf, which is backed by billions of dollars from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, announced Tuesday they had agreed to a merger, a men’s professional golf that has divided top players and everyday fans. announced that it had put an end to the fierce battle over world hegemony. and corporate sponsors. The president of the Saudi Fund will be the president of the participating organizations.
The announcement was astonishing at the same time — the two camps have been clashing in lawsuits for months now coming to an end — and since LIV entered the golf scene last year, golf’s It was an ending that many involved believed had a clear possibility.
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and the PGA Tour, which have funded the LIV, said in a joint statement Tuesday with DP World Tour, also covered by the deal, that the former rivals “combined their commercial businesses to grow. We will carry out the plan to get it done,” he said. , increase fan engagement and accelerate growth efforts already underway. ”
“Going forward, our fans will come together to deliver on what we have always promised: to promote the very best of professional golf, and to do everything in our power to secure and advance the future of the game. You can be confident that,” said Jay Monaghan. The PGA Tour Commissioner said in a statement:
Under the terms of the interim agreement announced Tuesday, Public Investment Fund will initially be the exclusive investor in the blended business, along with established Tour and LIV. Monaghan is expected to become CEO of the new group, while wealth fund president Yasir Al-Rumayyan will become chairman.
Last year, LIV poached some of the world’s greatest players, including Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson, and secured contracts sometimes worth over $100 million and the richest tournament prize money in golf history. entered the world of professional golf. .
The PGA Tour, which has long dominated the world of professional golf, retaliated by banning players joining the new tour from the tournament. In sometimes acrimonious public statements and legal submissions, the tour has argued that the Saudi-backed league is merely a front stage in Saudi ambitions to undermine the integrity of the sport and restore the kingdom’s reputation.
But by noon on Tuesday, golf’s era of high-priced brinkmanship will be over, with the promise of a “fair and objective process for every player”, aiming to return to parity with the PGA Tour and the European Tour. was