PGA and LIV merge to tee off golf monopoly

The Future. After being bitter rivals for the past year, the PGA Tour and LIV Golf have decided to put down their clubs and merge for the good of the pocketbook… er… the good of the game. With golf experiencing major growth outside the US, the PGA likely sees this as the easiest path to expanding its international footprint. 

Par for the course
In the second mega-deal in sports this year, professional golf is making an international merger.

• The PGA tour and LIV Golf (which is backed by the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund, aka PIF) are merging into a yet-to-be-named, for-profit super league.
• The deal, which is expected to be completed in the coming weeks as it seeks approval from the PGA Tour policy board, would allow pros to play in opens across both leagues.
• If the leagues officially merge, it would also end all antitrust litigation between the two… and, boy, have lawyers on both sides been working overtime the past year.

PIF, which is run by the Saudi crown prince, plans to pour billions into the league. It’s a move that will only fuel criticism that LIV is a vehicle for Saudi Arabia to “sportswash” its reputation — creating a well-funded, culturally-relevant distraction from its human rights abuses.

Ironically, that’s an opinion that PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan had just last summer.