Pro Golfers Caught Off-Guard By Stunning PGA Tour, LIV Unification

If you checked to see if it was April Fool’s Day when you got word that the PGA TOUR and LIV Golf had agreed to partner after two years of unrest, discord, and lawsuits, you’re not alone.

The news came as a stunner to many, including some pro golfers who found out via social media that the PGA Tour, DP World Tour (European Tour) and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) had agreed to form a new collectively owned, for-profit entity – purportedly intended to unify professional men’s golf.

Here are six key takeaways from the landmark agreement that’s shaken up the professional golf world:

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The PGA Tour retains its tax-exempt status and will continue to run its own events, with Jay Monahan as Commissioner. It also becomes part of a new, collectively owned, for-profit entity. One that features the Saudi PIF as the “exclusive investor” alongside the PGA Tour, LIV Golf and DP World Tour. PIF Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan becomes Chairman of the new commercial entity (name still to-be determined), with Monahan as CEO.

“After two years of disruption and distraction, this is a historic day for the game we all know and love,” Monahan said in a joint statement that lauds the PIF’s “world-class investing experience” and praises the partnership as not just a solution to the rift in the men’s professional ranks, but a commitment to take the game to new heights.

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Greg Norman was notably absent from the release jointly issued by the PGA Tour, DP Tour and PIF, which owns LIV Golf. Norman is the Commissioner and CEO of the splinter, Saudi-backed golf league and has been a central figure in the discord between the tours. Al-Rumayyan said Norman was notified of the deal just before he and Monahan appeared on CNBC-TV together to announce the agreement.

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The team concept that LIV has embraced was mentioned prominently several times in the joint release, including noting that the PGA TOUR, DP World Tour and PIF will work together to best feature and grow team golf going forward. Added Monahan: “This transformational partnership recognizes the immeasurable strength of the PGA TOUR’s history, legacy and pro-competitive model and combines with it the DP World Tour and LIV – including the team golf concept – to create an organization that will benefit golf’s players, commercial and charitable partners and fans.”

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Players who left the PGA Tour for LIV might have an avenue to return. The three tours noted that they will “work cooperatively and in good faith to establish a fair and objective process for any players who desire to re-apply for membership with the PGA TOUR or the DP World Tour” after the 2023 LIV season ends.

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Among those on the Board of Directors for the new commercial entity is PGA Tour Policy Board member Jimmy Dunne, one of the founders of Sandler O’Neill + Partners. Sandler O’Neill lost 66 of its 171 employees on the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York; Dunne was out of the office that day attempting to qualify for the U.S. Mid-Amateur. In an interview with SI.com a year ago, Dunne said he wouldn’t be the “fairest judge of Saudi involvement” after losing so many friends on 9/11, but offered candid thoughts about what he called the Saudi tour.

“I don’t like it when they say they’re ‘growing the game,’” Dunne told SI in June 2022. “That’s crap. I don’t even like it when they say, ‘I have to do what’s best for my family.’ I really wonder how many of those guys, the lifestyle that they were living was so horrible that their family needed them to do this. Just say, ‘I’m at a point in my career where I (want to) make five times as much money against much weaker competition and play less.’ Just tell the truth. Don’t cover it with a lot of crap.”

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The PIF’s capital investment (an undisclosed amount) promises to help the new for-profit entity grow the tours’ combined commercial businesses, drive greater fan engagement, and accelerate growth initiatives already underway. Al-Rumayyan called the partnership a new era in global golf.

“There is no question that the LIV model has been positively transformative for golf,” Rumayyan said. “We believe there are opportunities for the game to evolve while also maintaining its storied history and tradition. This partnership represents the best opportunity to extend and increase the impact of golf for all.”