Who are the Winners and Losers of the PGA/LIV Merger?
PGA Tour and LIV Golf struck a deal on Tuesday morning that will change the course of golf forever. That is, the two rival golf tours decided to merge, along with the DP World Tour.
The news shook the golf world. For the past two years, the rivalry had been growing between the Saudi-backed LIV and United States-based PGA. Of course, with the merger, there have to be some winners and losers. Let’s dive in.
Winner: The game of golf
Everyone knows that the big winner here is the game of golf itself. Now, all the best players from around the world will be soon united again for a full season of professional golf at the highest level. There won’t be any choosing or picking favorites, no channel flipping or calendar watching. Just golf.
The game will only grow in the press as well. How could you not want to watch the beginning of a new era? Overall, the merger is going to grow the game, and both the PGA and LIV Golf have an understanding of that fact.
Loser: Jay Monahan
From the beginning of this all, Jay Monahan, the PGA Tour commissioner, was treating LIV like an archnemesis to the players, media and fans. It’s a respectable business strategy until you cross the line. Golf fans remember just a year ago when Monahan ripped LIV Golf to shreds on national television.
Jay Monahan, Commissioner of the PGA TOUR, using 9/11 to shame players last year for taking life changing money from LIV…
— Stephen Geiger (@Stephen_Geiger) June 6, 2023
Now, he has no problem with the money and merges LIV Golf with the PGA. Disgusting.pic.twitter.com/CUhIodZIpi
Monahan essentially said that LIV players need to heed some sort of responsibility for the 9/11 attacks in this 2022 statement, for lack of better words. Putting them out on the biggest stage like this makes you desert them. You only say something like this if you’re positive you’ll never be associated with LIV Golf or the players in it.
When Monahan said, “Have you ever had to apologize for being a member of the PGA Tour?” you know he thought he was some impactful scholar about to give a lecture at Cambridge. Meanwhile, he is just another rich businessman who used a tragedy to try to get a leg up in bargaining with players.
The same morals that he brought into the conversation initially, he turned back on when the deal was right.
Monahan ripped LIV apart while having secret meetings with them. If you’d asked Monahan last week what he thought of LIV, he would have said the same thing as he said last year. It’s the type of person he is. He backhanded his entire PGA base. A former Tour champion said Monahan’s meeting with Tour players after the news was announced was a “sh*t show.” I believe it. For now, it’s not like anyone will hold Monahan accountable.
Winners(?): LIV Players Who Signed Massive Contracts
Of course, LIV’s entire draw for players was the big salaries. Some golfers got nine- and 10-figure salaries. LIV offered a lot of different players, media personnel and other golf figures to join the league. The list of players who switched over is a long one, including Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson and Bryson DeChambeau.
They got massive tournament paydays either way. One example was Johnson, who got paid $4 million from a total $20 million individual purse. While these are big paydays, the money in their contracts was much bigger.
Those that took the deals with LIV, look like they’ll be able to join the conglomerate of golf while being paid monumental amounts. I don’t believe there is a loophole that allows them to not be paid by LIV, since they already agreed under contract. I don’t hold any legal titles, however, so for now we can’t draw a conclusion. Rest assured that PIF, or Public Investing Fund, which is the Saudi company that ran LIV, will try and find a way to nullify the contracts.
There is a lot of gray area here. Due to the amount of money being thrown around, there’s no doubt that this legal dispute will drag on.
Losers: PGA Loyal Players
PGA Tour players who stayed loyal and didn’t move to LIV for a chance at a big payday missed out massively here. Instead of securing those huge contracts and potential big tournament wins, they are just back where everyone else is.
Rickie Fowler turned down $75 million from LIV. Apparently, Tiger Woods had somewhere between $700-800 million offered to him. The list goes on and on.
While a lot of these players took the moral high ground, you’d have to assume that some part of them wishes they could have taken the money, especially given the current state of affairs
Debriefing
The new era of golf is here. One can only speculate as to how much of LIV’s game will be engrained into the PGA going forward. Will there be rule changes? Is the Tour going to pay players with LIV’s kind of money, or will it revert back to PGA levels?
Expect a long legal dispute over these questions. Above all else, it appears as if the fans are getting the best part of the deal in the PGA LIV merger.
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