Man, the turn tables have turned.
It’s been pretty well-documented over the past couple of years the feud between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf, the Saudi Arabia-backed golf league that basically offered the majority of the PGA Tour stars mind boggling amounts of money to join their league.
Of course, this drew a ton of controversy between those who ditched the PGA for LIV, and those who decided to stay.
It mainly stemmed from the morality of it all, as Saudi Arabia is known for their incredibly strict laws, human and civil rights violations, and criminal punishments that can ultimately lead to execution if laws are broken.
However, there were several who couldn’t blame the PGA stars who left for LIV, like Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, and more, as they signed massive contracts with guaranteed money, and the schedule was much more relaxed and they didn’t have to worry about making cuts like the PGA.
Initially, the PGA said that those who joined LIV would not be allowed to compete in PGA tournaments, but that slowly changed over the past couple of years, as they began to allow LIV players to play in major championships.
With that being said, the feud appears to be over, as the PGA and LIV are officially merging together, according to CNBC.
The outlet states that the two entities signed an agreement that would combine the tours’ commercial businesses and rights into a new named for-profit company, that has yet to be named.
“The PGA TOUR, DP World Tour and the Public Investment Fund (PIF) today announced a landmark agreement to unify the game of golf, on a global basis.
The parties have signed an agreement that combines PIF’s golf-related commercial businesses and rights (including LIV Golf) with the commercial businesses and rights of the PGA TOUR and DP World Tour into a new, collectively owned, for-profit entity to ensure that all stakeholders benefit from a model that delivers maximum excitement and competition among the game’s best players.
In addition, PIF will make a capital investment into the new entity to facilitate its growth and success. The new entity (name TBD) will implement a plan to grow these combined commercial businesses, drive greater fan engagement and accelerate growth initiatives already underway.
With LIV Golf in the midst of its second, groundbreaking season, the PGA TOUR, DP World Tour and PIF will work together to best feature and grow team golf going forward.
Notably, today’s announcement will be followed by a mutually agreed end to all pending litigation between the participating parties.
Further, the three organizations 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 following the completion of the 2023 season and for determining fair criteria and terms of re-admission, consistent with each Tour’s policies.”
Needless to say, golf fans have been split in half over these two tours over the past two years.
So, as you can imagine, golf Twitter went wild when this news first dropped:
