It’s news to none that discussion about PGA Tour-PIF has been discussing the $3 billion merger for more than a year now. Even Jay Monahan clearly stated that it is expected to continue further in the next 2025 season. However, there was a meeting in New York last week, where the PIF representatives met with PGA Tour officials to discuss the financial details, and an insider shed quite many details about it as per the latest reports from Bloomberg.
The issues that could pose challenges in the deal were discussed, and one of the major ones was how the Tour players like to play in North America, and how PIF and Yasir Al-Rumayyan are not okay with it. “Other issues include getting PGA Tour players to agree to tour the world to participate in LIV Golf events, the people said. PGA Tour players have traditionally been reticent to travel outside North America, with the majority of PGA Tour events taking place in the US,” the source mentioned.
Not only that but it was also revealed that the two sides could agree on some terms and attempt to reach an agreement on players’ terms at a later date but if disagreements continue, Saudis might take a step back. “One worry is that the Saudis walk away, refocus on growing LIV and luring more PGA players. PIF is pulling back from major deals unless the transactions are structured with a significant domestic element, the people added. It is currently unclear how much influence PIF would have over PGA Tour Enterprises with a minority stake in the commercial vehicle,” said the source.
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LIV Golf hosts tournaments around the world, starting with Mayakoba in Mexico and extending to places like Hong Kong and Australia. In total, LIV Golf visited 8 countries for its 14 events in 2024, and the first four events of the 2025 season are also international, being hosted in Riyadh, Adelaide, Hong Kong, and Singapore. Meanwhile, the PGA Tour holds most of its events in various parts of the USA.
The Saudi-funded league has always been upfront about its aim to make golf a global sport, and flying across oceans does just that. LIV Golf Adelaide is one of the most successful events in the league; Australian fans love to watch golf events, but they don’t have a lot of options as the PGA Tour is not really active there. LIV Golf offers a fixed prize purse for each event, which is $25 million. The prize money on Jay Monahan’s PGA Tour varies from event to event. PGA Tour players might not want to play outside of North America; things aren’t certainly easy for LIV Golfers.
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What are the challenges for the LIV golfers in the $3B merger?
Well, the money LIV Golfers got after they moved to the breakaway league is becoming a concern. Surprisingly, the primary target is Jon Rahm, who reportedly received $500 million to join the Saudi-backed league. As per discussion, some PGA Tour players want LIV golfers to return the money they made from LIV Golf. Yes, not just the contract amount but the prize money they won.
They also have another option where they can pay fines or give it to charity. However, Rahm and other LIV golfers are refusing to do that and are also saying that they took a big risk when they left the PGA Tour, and they think that decision should be respected. The likes of Tiger Woods, Adam Scott, Peter Malnati, and Webb Simpson, including Rory McIlroy, are part of the discussions.
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Woods has already expressed his thoughts, saying there should be some consequences for LIV Golfers to come back to the Tour. “We are looking into, in all the different models, for pathways back. What that looks like, what the impact is for the players who stayed and have not left, and how we making our product better going forward – there is no answer to that right now,” said Woods said ahead of the Genesis Invitational.
Now that there is another big wall of terms and conditions in the PGA Tour-PIF deal, how long do you think it will take the merger to happen? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below.
