Both the PGA Tour, and Saudi-backed LIV Golf have announced that they have decided to merge. They had been in a bitter rivalry for a whole year.
The tours, which included the DP World Tour signed an agreement to combine their commercial rights and businesses into a single company. This is seen as a major win for the sport which was becoming divided.
PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan stated in a press release that “after two years of disruption, distraction and disarray, this is a historical day for the sport we all love.” This transformational partnership acknowledges the immeasurable strengths of the PGA Tour’s history, legacy, and pro-competitive models and combines them with the DP World Tour, LIV, and the team golf concept to create an organisation that will benefit the golf’s players and commercial and charitable partners, as well as fans.
Fans can rest assured that, going forward, we will deliver on our promise to promote the best of professional golf competition and to secure and drive the future of the game.
What will the new organization be like now that @PGATOUR & @livgolf_league have agreed to merge?
@davidfaber breaks down the details of the tour with Saudi PIF Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan. pic.twitter.com/z62iNxNd5Y
Squawk Street, June 6, 2023
In a bitter rivalry lasting a whole year, Greg Norman, CEO of LIV and Monahan have hurled insults at each other and filed several lawsuits. These lawsuits will now be dropped as part of the new agreement.
Norman, who lives near Palm Beach Gardens in Florida, is the man behind LIV Golf. The league is funded by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. It has been criticized for what critics say is “sportswashing” as Saudi Arabia attempts to distract attention from its atrocious violations of human rights.
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Norman wanted to collaborate with the PGA Tour from the beginning and told The Palm Beach Post in summer last year that he thought a LIV/PGA Tour merger would be coming.
Norman replied, “I believe it 100 percent,” when asked if the two tours would be able to come together. If Jay Monahan had the decency from the start to attend our meetings, none of this would exist today. The game of Golf would be much better off. The Tour would be much more successful. European golf would be much better off.
“In business, if a competitor is coming at you to challenge you, you should sit down, sign an NDA and have a discussion with them. See what works for you.”
Gifts for less than $100
By: Tom D’Angelo
Title: Greg Norman long believed LIV Golf, PGA Tour should come together: ‘One hundred percent I do’
Sourced From: golfweek.usatoday.com/2023/06/06/greg-norman-liv-golf-pga-tour-merger/
Published Date: Tue, 06 Jun 2023 15:44:53 +0000
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