So, what's happening in the world of golf? Rose Zhang won in her professional and LPGA debut in a playoff on Sunday. US Open Final Qualifying, known as golf's longest day, on Monday saw 13 amateurs advance to the championship proper. And, oh yeah, the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund announced an agreement to merge commercial operations under common ownership on Tuesday?!
Side note: poor Canada. Last year, LIV held their first tournament during the Canadian Open. This year, this mega-merger announcement happens the week of the Canadian Open. I wonder what Saudi Arabia has against Canada?
Jokes aside... what? Did anyone see this coming? (Except Phil, of course. After all, he said he knew things. But that should be taken with a grain of salt. Phil says a lot of things.)
This announcement caught a lot of people (everyone?) off guard. Players found out about it just like the rest of the world: on Twitter. Greg Norman, the CEO of LIV, received a phone call moments prior to the announcement, according to Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the Saudi Arabian PIF (Public Investment Fund) Governor. The golf media also didn't have and leads. This announcement was absolutely shocking.
Needless to say, there are questions. Besides the major question which is "what?!?", let's go down and ask a few and see if there are answers.
Does Anyone Know What This Actually Means?
Right now, it seems that answer is not really. There is no information about future event formats, the path for players who defected to LIV, the structure of the Tours, the schedules, or really anything about the product that the fans will see.
That makes sense. This is still in its infancy. They don't even have a name yet for the new collectively owned for-profit entity, yet! Whatever that name will be, it will probably be stupid.
What we do know is this:
The PGA Tour, DP World Tour, and PIF will combine commercial interests and rights into a new, collectively-owned, for-profit entity
PIF will make a capital investment into this new entity to facilitate its growth and success
The PGA Tour, DP World Tour, and PIF will work together to feature and grow team golf together
The PGA Tour will appoint a majority of the Board of the new entity and hold a majority voting interest
PGA Tour Inc. will remain a separate 501(c)(6) tax-exempt organization and will maintain its role in sanctioning tournaments and all "inside the ropes" tournament management duties
All parties agree to end all pending litigation
Who Thought They Were Going To Lose The Lawsuit?
That last part may have played a big role in this agreement. With all the litigation between the organizations, a lot of information was likely going to be released during discovery. These organizations are usually pretty secret in how they operate. That probably wouldn't be good for the PGA Tour or DP World Tour, and almost certainly wouldn't be good for the PIF and Saudi Arabia.
These lawsuits were potentially going to be very long and drawn out, and who would have benefited from that? The attorneys. (They gotta find those billable hours elsewhere now.) Certainly not the players, the fans, or the game of golf.
Does This Really End The "Bitter Feud?"
While ending the feud between the organizations and this landmark agreement claims to "unify the game of golf on a global basis," it seems that the spin that the feud is ending is misleading. At the very least, the bitter feud has shifted from between players of and the organizations to players against their own Tours.
Players who remained loyal to the PGA Tour, didn't take the absurd amount of signing money to LIV, are probably - rightfully - angry that the players who left to play LIV have a path back to the PGA Tour. How do those players who are being welcomed back make their amends? What does that look like? Fines? Suspensions? Sanctions? Forced to play the Byron Nelson at TPC Craig Ranch?
On the other hand, how do players who chose to resign their membership from the PGA Tour and DP World Tour (they essentially were forced to based on court and arbitration decisions) feel about regaining membership and status on their Tours?
All the players probably feel betrayed - for very different reasons - by the Tours. The feud is not over, but the feud is has shifted.
Can I Wear My Torque GC Jersey In Public Now?
The release mentions that team golf will be part of this agreement. What does that look like? As mentioned earlier, no one knows. This is a "framework agreement." (Monahan said that phrase many times during the player's meeting at the Canadian Open.) But, team golf may be here to stay in some fashion. Wear that Torque jersey proudly.
How Is This Not A Monopoly?
If a major part of the litigation focused on the PGA Tour allegedly being a monopoly, it's hard to believe that merging all of the entities of the PGA Tour (which includes minor tours such as the Korn Ferry Tour, PGA Tour Americas (formerly the PGA Tour Canada and PGA Tour Latinoamerica) and golf investments from PIF (including LIV, MENA, and the Asian Tour) and the DP World Tour, this newly formed for-profit entity owns a lot of professional tours. It will be interesting to see how the Department of Justice views this.
The antitrust investigation into the PGA Tour is ongoing.
Isn't The PGA Tour A "Member Run Organization?"
That's what everyone was led to believe. That's what the players were led to believe.
The players also found out about this on Twitter like the rest of the world.
This framework still needs to be finalized. That still needs to be voted on by the PGA policy board.
But it does seem strange that this was done in complete secrecy by the Tour who claims it is member-run, especially since many players played a large role in shaping the future of the PGA Tour and its format, schedule, and model.
Will This Affect My Saturday Morning Foursome?
No. Go and chase a white ball around a field. Crack a beer at the turn. Play that $5 Nassau. Settle ties with a chip off on the putting green. The game we play is still the game we love.
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