PGA Merges with its Main Competitor LIV Golf

PGA Merges with its Main Competitor LIV Golf

06 June, 2023

If you read this headline and had to check the date to make sure it wasn’t April 1st, you are not alone.

The PGA Tour, the DP World Tour, and the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF) have announced a historic deal to unite men’s professional golf in a startling turn of events, according to a release.

The announcement on Tuesday comes less than a week before the U.S. Open, when 18 LIV Golf tour players supported by Saudi Arabia have qualified.

The official statement states, “Today is a momentous day for your organization and the game of golf as a whole.” The Public Investment Fund (PIF) is contributing its golf-related commercial operations and rights (including LIV Golf), together with a sizeable monetary investment, toward minority equity ownership of a new, jointly held, for-profit LLC through a framework agreement. The PGA Tour’s and the DP World Tour’s commercial activities and rights will also be a part of this new corporation (name TBD).

The PIF has contributed close to $1 billion to LIV Golf since its founding.

Perhaps this is a case of the old adage “if you can’t beam ’em – join ’em” coming into play.