LIV Golf and PGA deadline set for April… Saudi-backed tour
LIV Golf and PGA deadline set for April… Saudi-backed tour needs contract to boost credibility even with Jon Rahm on roster. But can Red Sox owner FSG make a deal and add it all? His head? Today could be the last day of golf. It’s been six months and 206 days since the deal to merge the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia-backed LIV was announced on June 6. No agreement was reached and the civil war continued without end. Talks between the tournaments returned to the Masters in April, but little has changed since news of the merger broke. The fight continues, but as the PGA Tour declines, LIV’s influence grows.
Jon Rahm took the money and left, while the LIV’s biggest critic, Rory McIlroy, called for a rewrite of the rules under which future Ryder Cups will be played. Even Victor Hovland angered PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan in early December. The organization considers players “part of the workforce and not part of the membership.” A deal between the two organizations may seem implausible, but one thing that unites players in both tournaments is the belief that the bitter enemies must find a way to coexist.
In August 2022, new LIV hire Bryson DeChambeau boasted that the two sides were teaming up, telling Tucker Carlson, “I know personally that everything will work out, whether it’s legal or if we come to the table and agree “. . . I think it will disappear by itself in the future.”
McIlroy said in a speech in November. “Right now we feel the competitive environment has broken down. And I hope everyone is in the same boat again. I think that’s the best thing about golf.”
The structure discussed last June was to combine the PGA Tour with the LIV and DP World Tours, but details on what the schedule would look like beyond that were scarce.
DailyMail.Com reports that in August alone, the $2 billion 2025 LIV calendar will have 18 events outside the four majors for the top players. 12 people are in the US, 3 in Europe and 3 are participating in LIV events.
On that dramatic day in June, Monaghan sat on television with PIF governor Yasser Al-Rumayian and laid out his bold plans for the New Wave era. “It’s going to be a very big deal in many ways,” he said. “We’re going to have LIV and the PGA Tour and we’re going to do a lot of new things as we invest in the game of golf. We think that’s going to bring more player involvement, more fan involvement, more broadcasters, more coverage.”
Does this include the team aspect of the PGA Tour’s new look? Is LIV’s 3-shot shotgun included?
As far as we know, these are all still issues that need to be addressed. The conversation never ends
The worst finish on the PGA Tour may be uncertain after the Masters.
When the merger deal was announced last June, Al-Rumaian said a formal deal could be done “within a few weeks”, but that has apparently not happened. Meanwhile, LIV has moved on, and the hiring of Rahm is seen as a game changer. The Spaniard and reigning Masters champion has long laughed off the idea of joining LIV. “I laugh when people tell me about LIV Golf. I never liked that format,” Rahm said in August, four months before the nearly $500 million deal was signed. While players like McIlroy destroyed those who crossed the gap before, Lahm fell to the Northern Irishman.
“I’m going to miss competing with him every week,” he said. “I have nothing but good things to say about John. I have a lot of respect for him as a golfer. He seems to want to live his life the right way.
Thinking others will follow Rahm’s lead is far from the biggest leap of faith, and not just because of Norman’s comments about how often his phone rings. You will notice that players pay higher fees and have a shorter amount of time to join LIV while still locked out. If a merger occurs, larger prizes will be offered, but there may be no entry fee. The appeal of the PGA Tour was further weakened when the roof of a custom-built stadium in Florida collapsed, derailing the launch of Tiger Woods and McIlroy’s “League of Golf.” The launch is currently planned for 2025. no agreement
In a way, the worst outcome for LIV, for all its push to bring it global, is not understanding.
The merger with the PGA Tour gave LIV a legitimacy and authenticity it didn’t already have. For tour stars like Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Cameron Smith and now Rahm, their events don’t get as much attention or attention as PGA Tour events.
As of now, players cannot earn ranking points by playing in the LIV Tour, so players will continue to compete for major tournaments.
In June last year, Al Rumbayan said he would become president of the new organization formed after the PGA/LIV merger, perhaps signaling his ambitions to reach the top of the sport. Reforms are still needed for the PGA Tour to appease teams like Hovland and prevent more stars from coming through LIV.
