sport news The PGA and LIV Golf merger explained: What's the problem? trends now
A year ago, the newly formed LIV Golf tour was being shunned by PGA puritans like commissioner Jay Monahan, who chastised the Saudi-backed upstart as a blatant example of 'sportswashing' in a vulgar attempt to launder the kingdom's miserable human rights record.
Defectors were banned from all but major tournaments for joining LIV Golf in exchange for Saudi money, much of which came in the form of front-loaded, nine-figure contracts.
A bitter legal battle over the sport's future unfolded over the next year or so, but that all came to an end with Tuesday's announced PGA-LIV merger. Now, instead of launching attacks at his former rivals, Monahan is struggling reconcile his past criticism of LIV Golf and Saudi Arabia with his decision to do business with both.
'As time went on, circumstances changed,' Monahan said in a conference call after a tense meeting with PGA players on Tuesday. 'I don't think it was right or sustainable to have this tension in our sport… I recognize everything I've said in the past. I recognize people will call me a hypocrite.'
Exactly how circumstances changed remains a mystery, although the PGA-LIV legal battle and its potential to reveal sensitive Saudi and Tour information remains a likely candidate. Similarly, the future of the sport and the players who defected to LIV Golf remain unclear.
Here, DailyMail.com details the controversy, the former-rivals-turned-business partners, and how this alliance will shape the sport going forward:
A year ago, the newly formed LIV Golf tour was shunned by PGA commissioner Jay Monahan
Saudi PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan (left) and LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman (right) shar a laugh
HOW DID WE GET HERE?
Founded in 2021 with the slogan, 'Golf but Louder,' LIV was marketed as an alternative to the PGA for both players and fans who had supposedly grown tired of the nearly century-old Tour.
Using 54-hole tournaments ('LIV' is the Roman numeral for 54) with 48-player fields, LIV was said to be an effort to grow the sport, but critics were quick to suggest an ulterior motive: sportswashing.
Known as Vision 2030, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's plan to modernize Saudi Arabia, while making it less dependent on exporting oil and more appealing to foreign investors, has involved several endeavors in sports business.
The country has used its $600 billion Public Investment Fund (PIF) to buy Newcastle United while luring soccer stars like Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo to Saudi teams for record-breaking sums.
The PIF, under governor and Saudi Aramco chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan, also launched LIV Golf, which is now at the center of the sportswashing debate.
Even Phil Mickelson, who agreed to defect to LIV Golf for a reported $200 million, referred to the kingdom as 'scary mother****ers' while recalling the 2018 murder and dismembering of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
Family members of 9/11 victims have also taken aim at LIV Golf due to the widespread belief that Saudi Arabia was involved in the terrorist attacks. The plan was carried out by 19 terrorists, including 15 Saudi nationals, and Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was also born in Saudi Arabia.
Even Phil Mickelson, who took $200m from the Saudis, called them 'scary mother****ers'
On the other hand, Saudi Arabia has denied any official involvement in the 9/11 attacks, while the FBI and CIA have also rejected such claims.
Despite the controversy, LIV proceeded to lure the likes of Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, and Dustin Johnson with reported nine-figure deals, which led to a massive legal stalemate.
Mickelson and DeChambeau were among 11 players who filed an antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour last August. LIV joined as plaintiffs, and the PGA Tour countersued.
The concern for PIF was whether its leaders could be deposed, which Saudi Arabia wanted to avoid. Being open to depositions would leave the kingdom's leaders more vulnerable to legal action, including lawsuits demanding they reveal sensitive business deals in the United States.
A federal judge had ruled the PIF could not claim immunity from the Foreign Service Immunity Act because of its commercial work with LIV Golf in the US.
The PIF appealed the ruling to the Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals, which was likely to extend the lawsuit deep into 2024 if not longer.
And LIV Golf hasn't been faring much better with audiences.
Currently LIV Golf events can be seen on CW and YouTube, although Nielsen ratings have been disappointing to say the least. LIV Golf is no longer reporting viewer data after claiming that Nielsen's audience measurements are inaccurate.
Golfweek Magazine reported last year that LIV came close to an agreement with Fox Sports about buying airtime, six years after the network parted ways with Norman, a former PGA star.
Despite the efforts of Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner to broker a deal between both parties, no agreement could be made.
And with major networks
