LIV Golf are reportedly set to settle a £1billion deal to merge with the PGA Tour and end golf’s long-running civil war. Top golfers Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy have played key roles in an agreement which it is claimed will see the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia become an 11 per-cent shareholder in the PGA Tour.
Players on the PGA Tour will get a final vote on whether the deal will pass through without further issues. However, it is said that they are set to agree and put to an end a turbulent period for the sport.
According to The Sun, the deal will see PIF claim two seats on the PGA board – including the coveted role of chairman. Golfers who remained loyal to the PGA Tour two years ago will reportedly be another huge cash injection to the £1.2bn fund set up to reward those stars.
The LIV Golf league was created two years ago to rival the PGA Tour with several high-profile stars accepting lucrative sums of money to rebel. Jon Rahm, the 2023 Masters champion, accepted nearly £500million to become one of LIV’s top recruits last year.
Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter also ditched the PGA Tour to sign multi-million contracts with the Saudi-backed breakaway tour.
Players who made the switch were immediately banned from PGA and DP World Tour events. The moves prompted several bitter rows between PGA and LIV Golf stars.
If and when the deal is confirmed, LIV’s tournaments will come under the PGA banner. It hosted 14 events this year, with Rahm justifying the hundreds of millions invested in his presence on the tour by becoming the 2024 champion.
The DP World Tour will also reportedly benefit from the merger. It has a strategic alliance with the PGA Tour which will be reinforced with a cash boost to provide better prize money.
PIF has assets of £720bn so Saudi chiefs may view £1bn as a fair price to pay for a relatively substantial presence in elite golf. The sport is one of money invested in by PIF, with football, tennis, Formula One, snooker and boxing benefitting from the fund’s billions.
