In a shock move, the PGA Tour and LIV Golf on Tuesday announced a merger. In a shock move, the PGA Tour and LIV Golf on Tuesday announced a merger. Picture: Adrian Dennis AFP
Centurion - I never thought this day would come, as the PGA Tour sheepishly held out its hat and grovelled at the feet of the Saudi-funded LIV Golf tour.
By now you will have heard the shocking news that the PGA Tour and LIV Golf on Tuesday announced a massive merger deal. How much money changed hands has not been revealed, nor do I suspect will we ever find out.
I personally didn’t have a problem with the format of LIV Golf, though a tad gimmicky, but of course the tour’s source of money is much more problematic. The Saudi regime is reprehensible with its human rights abuses. The state monarchy’s involvement in LIV, through the funding of the series via it’s Public Investment Fund has also been largely condemned as sportswashing.
The PGA Tour had banned its members from playing on their tour if they played on the LIV Golf Tour, and the DP World Tour (European Tour) handed out hefty fines for offending players. In fact, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan previously said that no LIV Golf player would ever play on the PGA Tour again while he was in charge.
Now, he was front and centre with this new merger. He even quite comically acknowledged that people will call him a hypocrite. Monahan said his previous comments and stance on LIV Golf had been made because he didn’t have all the facts available he now does.
Very liberal use of the word “facts” there, Monahan . I would suggest the word you’re looking for is “money”. You now have all the money available to dispense with any morals you still possessed.
Morals and the PGA Tour, however, has always been a grey area in my opinion. The PGA Tour, is the highest quality golf tour in the world, and it knew it. The PGA Tour, its employees and sycophantic commentators were always condescending about the DP World Tour and other smaller golf tours around the world.
Take for example, Paul Azinger - former US PGA Tour professional - in a commentary stint a few years ago said “that other European Tour”, referring to how a player had fared across the Atlantic Ocean. It was a subtle remark, but it exemplified how the superior US circuit felt about other tours.
It was no surprise then that when LIV Golf began in October 2021, it was met with fierce resistance from the PGA Tour. Many reasons were given for the stance the PGA Tour took, but if you’ve been following golf and observing the actions of the PGA Tour it was clear to see that it sought to stamp out any threat to its place at the pinnacle of world golf. The fact that LIV Golf was Saudi-funded was easy to use as an excuse, but that clearly was not the real reason.
You also have to wonder, if LIV Golf star Brooks Koepka’s victory in the PGA Championship last month helped sway this new deal. The top golfers in the world who made the switch to LIV Golf were widely seen as past their best, but Koepka’s second place at the Masters and subsequent triumph at the PGA Championship silenced those critics.
Ultimately, Koepka’s win probably didn’t affect the merger, but having a current major champion banned from the PGA Tour was certainly not a good look.
A worse look though, and positively downright dirty is the PGA Tour’s attempt to come out of golf’s civil war squeaky clean when everyone knows that money won in the end. And that money is dirty.
@Golfhackno1
IOL Sport
* The views expressed are not necessarily the views of IOL or Independent Media.
** JOIN THE CONVERSATION: Send us an email with your comments, thoughts or responses to iolletters@inl.co.za. Letters should be a maximum of 500 words, and may be edited for length. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Submissions should include a contact number and physical address (not for publication).