Saudis BUY golf: Stunning deal sees LIV join forces with PGA and DP World Tours and pump in £1bn to help the new collaboration… leaving many of the world’s top golfers angry and frustrated
- Golf was left stunned by the shock news LIV Golf was merging with PGA Tour
- The Saudi Kingdom has gained control of the sport a year after starting LIV Golf
- CEO Greg Norman and top golfers were left in the dark about an announcement
The golf civil war was declared over on Tuesday after an extraordinary peace deal was struck between the traditional tours and the Saudi-back LIV circuit.
After a year of fighting, litigation and chaos that ripped golf in half, the sport was left stunned by the shock announcement that the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and LIV had joined forces in a ‘commercial entity to unify golf’.
While they will remain three separate competitive entities, the parties have agreed to combine their commercial operations and collectively draw from Saudi Arabia’s vast wealth in a new era of cooperation.
Amid the vagaries of the shared statement, golf insiders now say the Kingdom has gained control of the sport almost exactly one year after its first tournament in St Albans last June.
Mail Sport revealed last month that following more than a year of acrimony, there were ambitious moves to broker peace between the factions, with Newcastle United director Amanda Staveley recruited to that effort by the Saudi Public Investment Fund.
Saudi officials – led by Public Investment Fund chief Yasir Al-Rumayyan – have ended the golf civil war by merging with the PGA and DP World Tours
LIV Golf already plans to pump in another £1billion to their new collaboration after the bombshell announcement on Tuesday
Newcastle United director Amanda Staveley was key to peace talks as she was brought in to ease tensions
It is understood that talks between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and LIV escalated rapidly in the past month, during which time one of their many expensive acquisitions, Brooks Koepka, won the US PGA Championships.
That victory was a huge boost for a circuit that had seemingly withered amid so much negative publicity and minimal television exposure, but the announcement on Tuesday has finally killed off all talk about the start-up circuit disappearing into the background.
On a dramatic day, we can report:
- Many of the world’s top golfers had no idea the announcement was coming, causing anger and frustration
- LIV CEO Greg Norman was only notified in the minutes before the release was made public, heightening suspicions that he has been marginalised
- The Saudi Public Investment Fund, which has already pumped £2billion into LIV, are expected to invest a further £1bn in the new collaboration
- LIV golfers who were suspended indefinitely by the PGA and DP World Tour will be able to re-apply for membership from the end of this season
- The Tours will work to avoid scheduling conflicts, with the possibility of cross-tour team events
- All lawsuits between the parties have been dropped
LIV Golf chief Greg Norman was only notified about the deal in the minutes before it was announced
Many of golf’s top stars are thought to be frustrated after being left in the dark about the news
The merger will be interpreted in some quarters as a triumph for sportswashing and it has also opened up the leaders of the traditional tours to accusations of hypocrisy, especially as PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan had previously criticised LIV’s Saudi funding in light of the Kingdom’s involvement in 9/11. The survivors group 9/11 Families United said it was ‘shocked and deeply offended’ by the merger.
Monahan earlier trumpeted the deal with a tour that was once his sworn enemy, saying: ‘This is a historic day for the game we all know and love.’
DP World Tour chief executive Keith Pelley added: ‘This is a momentous day – to partner in this new entity is energising and exciting.’
LIV have not yet put out their own statement. Nor did they comment when asked by Mail Sport about Norman’s future.
The merger will allow a pathway back to the jilted tours for the LIV rebels, though only after the conclusion of the 2023 season.
The picture around future Ryder Cups will therefore be less messy than the current version, though it remains to be seen how the Official World Golf Ranking body now view LIV, having previously snubbed their requests for recognition. Significantly, Augusta National and the R&A have both already come out in support of the new partnership.
Phil Mickelson, who defected last year for $200m, tweeted: ‘Awesome day.’
Former President Donald Trump, who has hosted LIV events at his courses, said: ‘Great news from LIV Golf. A big, beautiful, and glamorous deal for the wonderful world of golf.’
Wesley Bryan, who plays on the PGA’s developmental Korn Ferry Tour, said: ‘I feel betrayed.’ He added he will not be able to ‘trust anyone within the corporate structure of the PGA Tour for a long time’.
Rory McIlroy, the biggest opponent of LIV, is scheduled to speak at a press conference at the Canadian Open on Wednesday.
WHO IS YASSIR AL-RUMAYYAN?
Saudi Public Investment Fund Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan, 53, has emerged as one of the most powerful figures in international sports in recent years, due mostly to his unmatched spending power.
Chosen by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to run the PIF, which is currently worth around $620 billion, Al-Rumayyan helped lead a $300 million takeover of Newcastle United in 2020.
In fact, Al-Rumayyan has been funding the kingdom’s push to host a growing array of sporting events. Spectacles have included Anthony Joshua’s 2019 heavyweight title rematch with Andy Ruiz Jr. in Diriyah, the Italian Super Cup finals, and the upstart LIV Golf Tour.
Several big names, including major winners such as Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Cameron Smith and Bryson DeChambeau, have been lured to LIV Golf with lucrative signing bonuses reportedly worth as much as $100million to $200million. Phil Mickelson was paid a reported $200 million to defect to LIV Golf.
Trump, Yasir bin Othman Al-Rumayyan (center), and Jared Kushner at a 2022 LIV event
Critics say LIV Golf is simply ‘sportswashing’ Saudi Arabia’s brutal human rights record.
A Harvard Business School graduate, Al-Rumayyan started his career as an investment banker and his rise has been so meteoric that he is now one of the only major players in the Saudi state who is not a member of the royal family.
Away from the boardroom, little is known about Al-Rumayyan beyond his love of golf. He plays off a handicap of 12 and has been pictured arm-in-arm with former Masters champion Sergio Garcia, plus a host of the game’s other big names.
But Al-Rumayyan’s role at the PIF means he is a key figure in Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 – a project designed to diversify its wealth beyond its colossal oil and gas industries.