PGA Tour-LIV Golf merger: Everything you need to know ahead of PGA Tour players meeting

In a surprise announcement Tuesday morning that came after a year of bitter fracturing in men’s professional golf, the PGA Tour and the Saudi-backed LIV Golf tour announced an agreement to merge their business operations.

The ramifications of the development are still unraveling, as a 4 p.m. ET meeting has been scheduled for PGA Tour players, many of whom reported being entirely unaware of the agreement.

Both the PGA Tour and LIV Golf, along with the DP World Tour, announced the move in a joint statement published Tuesday. The merger aims to create “a new, collectively owned, for-profit entity to ensure that all stakeholders benefit from a model that delivers maximum excitement and competition among the game’s best players.”

The terms of the agreement are not fully finalized and are scheduled to be completed in the coming months.

“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 Tuesday in a statement.

“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.”

Here’s everything you need to know about the merger agreement.

What do we know about the terms of the merger agreement between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf?

There are still several key details that are unknown about the merger. For starters, the new entity does not have a name yet.

A key element in the merger is financial. The Public Investment Fund (PIF), the sovereign wealth investment fund of the Saudi government, “will make a capital investment into the new entity to facilitate its growth and success,” according to the news release. The PIF had been the sole entity to entirely fund the LIV Golf operation.

Additionally, the merger stipulates that the PIF “will initially be the exclusive investor in the new entity” and “will have the exclusive right to further invest in the new entity, including a right of first refusal on any capital.”

A newly established Board of Directors will direct and oversee the new entity’s operations, schedule, investments. PIF Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan will be part of the new entity’s Board of Directors and will be on its executive committee. The announcement of the full board will come at a later date.

Additionally, the merger will lead to “a mutually agreed end to all pending litigation between the participating parties.” In August 2022, a number of golfers who joined the LIV tour filed an antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour, challenging their suspensions.

The merger stipulates that after the conclusion of the 2023 season, the PGA Tour, LIV Golf and the DP World Tour “will work cooperatively and in good faith to establish a fair and objective process” to allow players who left the PGA Tour and DP tour to re-apply for membership.

9/11 families group slams PGA Tour over LIV Golf merger: ‘Paid Saudi shills’

An organization representing families of 9/11 victims ripped the PGA Tour’s decision Tuesday to merge with Saudi-funded LIV Golf, describing the PGA and its commissioner, Jay Monahan, as hypocrites who have become “paid Saudi shills.”

In a statement released Tuesday afternoon, 9/11 Families United said it was “shocked and deeply offended” by the news of the merger, which will see the PGA, LIV Golf and the DP World Tour all operating under a single business umbrella, funded by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. The chair of 9/11 Families United, Terry Strada, said she and the other family members who make up the group felt “betrayed” by the PGA Tour and Monahan individually.

“Mr. Monahan talked last summer about knowing people who lost loved ones on 9/11, then wondered aloud on national television whether LIV Golfers ever had to apologize for being a member of the PGA Tour. They do now — as does he,” said Strada, whose husband, Tom, died at the World Trade Center.

“PGA Tour leaders should be ashamed of their hypocrisy and greed. Our entire 9/11 community has been betrayed by Commissioner Monahan and the PGA as it appears their concern for our loved ones was merely window-dressing in their quest for money — it was never to honor the great game of golf.” — Tom Schad

The White House is staying out of the PGA Tour-LIV Golf partnership

As news of the PGA Tour’s merger with LIV Golf spread, the White House is opting not to weigh in, when reporters at a briefing asked about the agreement in light of Saudi Arabia’s human rights record.

“I have no comment on that,” White House spokesman John Kirby said Tuesday during a briefing. — Joey Garrison

As PGA Tour and LIV announce merger, the current standings and top players on each tour

LIV golfers Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau and Phil Mickelson have been hard to miss near the top of major tournament leaderboards this year – especially with Koepka collecting his fifth major at the PGA Championship.

But what about all the other players who left the PGA for the Saudi-backed LIV Golf tour in past months?

With the surprise announcement Tuesday morning of the merger of the two tours’ business operations, here’s a look at the top 52 players of each tour in 2023. — Jim Sergent

Tune in for ‘Full Swing’ Season 2

A producer on the Netflix docuseries “Full Swing,” which follows the lives of several men’s pro golfers, said that the cameras were rolling when the news of the PGA Tour-LIV Golf agreement came through.

“You better believe we were filming when this broke,” producer Chad Mumm wrote Tuesday in a tweet.

Season 2 drops in 2024.

PGA Tour golfers frustrated they didn’t know about deal with LIV Golf beforehand

The golf world was stunned by the PGA Tour-LIV Golf deal, and apparently, so were the ones on the tours.

The announcement Tuesday morning was a shocker since the PGA Tour and its players have been critical of the LIV Golf Invitational Series, primarily because it is funded entirely by the Public Investment Fund (PIF), the sovereign wealth investment fund of the Saudi government, which has been accused of wide-ranging human rights abuses, including politically motivated killings, torture, forced disappearances and inhumane treatment of prisoners.

When the announcement was made, PGA Tour golfers voiced their displeasure on Twitter with how they found out about the deal, with many saying that they found out through social media. — Jordan Mendoza

Jack Nicklaus says PGA Tour-LIV Golf merger ‘good for the game of golf’

Jack Nicklaus is thankful the infighting is coming to a close.

Nicklaus, who said he was offered but turned down $100 million to be the CEO of the LIV Golf series and said LIV Golf “wasn’t for me,” reacted to the stunning news that the PGA Tour and LIV Golf will merge.

“The last three years have been difficult for the game and the players,” said Nicklaus, who lives in North Palm Beach. “I spoke with PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan this morning. He seemed pleased with the arrangement that will once again bring together the best players in the world. I agree that this is good for the game of golf.”

This came just one week after Nicklaus spoke ahead of the Memorial Tournament about the LIV players who had decided to split off from the PGA Tour.

“I don’t even consider those guys part of the game anymore,” he said then. “I don’t mean that in a nasty way. This is a PGA Tour event, and we have the best field we can possibly have for a PGA Tour event for those who are eligible to be here. The other guys made a choice of what they did and where they’ve gone and we don’t even talk about it.” — Tom D’Angelo, Palm Beach Post

Augusta National, Royal and Ancient weigh in on merger

Fred Ridley, the chairman of Augusta National Golf Club, which is the home of the Masters, said the club is “encouraged” by the PGA Tour-LIV Golf merger, and said it “represents a positive development in bringing harmony to men’s professional golf.”

Ridley added that August and the Masters are “devoted to developing the game and celebrating its many virtues.”

Meanwhile, Martin Slumbers, the CEO of R&A, said the club was “pleased that an agreement has been reached which will help men’s professional golf move forward in a collaborative, constructive and innovative fashion. …

“We care deeply about golf’s future and are committed to ensuring that the sport continues to thrive for many years to come,” Slumbers continued. “This agreement represents a hugs step toward achieving that goal for golf and we look forward to working with the new entity for the benefit of the sport globally.” — Casey Moore

OPINION: PGA Tour sold out to LIV Golf and the Saudis. Pro golf will never be the same.

Frauds, all of them. But frauds now united in the only thing that actually matters to the world of professional golf: Making money.

In the end, it didn’t actually matter to PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan that the money came from a country, Saudi Arabia, that treats human rights like an inconvenience. The tradition and history of the PGA Tour, in fact, didn’t matter all that much to those who argued that LIV Golf was an unworthy, unserious rival whose guaranteed money and 54-hole events were mocking competition.