Trump Hails PGA-LIV Tour Merger as “Big, Beautiful & Glamorous” as BUS Follows as It Live Online
Trump Hails PGA-LIV Merger as “Big, Beautiful & Glamorous” as BUS Follows as It Live Online – Read through it we at BUS Big USA Sports followed it online with minutes of developments.
Trump Hails PGA-LIV Merger as "Big, Beautiful & Glamorous" as BUS Follows as It Live Online - the image is screen grab.
May 4, 2021: The Bumpy Ride Toward Golf’s Unity according to The Telegraph’s golf writer James Corrigan, some of the best players in the world have been offered contracts for up to $100 million (£72 million) to play in a dissident world tour financed by Saudi Arabia. This may cause them to forgo the PGA Tour, the Masters, and the Ryder Cup. BUS is the Big USA Sports, the sports news website.
Day of the Moon (October 27) Greg Norman has announced that the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia will be the company’s largest shareholder, and he will serve as CEO of LIV Golf Investments.
Ten Asian Tour tournaments will be supported by the money. There are rumors that Norman will lead a Saudi-funded golf league run by LIV Golf as its commissioner.
The PGA Tour’s annual prize is increasing from $367 million (£295 million) in 2020 to $427 million (£344 million) in 2022, according to a memo sent out by commissioner Jay Monahan on November 21.
February 2, 2022 In an interview with Golf Digest, Phil Mickelson, who is now in Saudi Arabia competing in the Saudi International, said, “The PGA Tour’s obnoxious greed is what has really opened the door for opportunities elsewhere.”
He calls the Saudis “scary mother——s” but says LIV provides golfers with a “once in a lifetime opportunity.” Reactions include Mickelson’s announcement that he will be taking time away from the game and Monahan’s warning that anyone who joins LIV will be expelled from the Tour.
On March 17, LIV announced its eight-event calendar for 2022, with the debut set for Centurion in St. Albans in June. There will be 12 teams competing for a $255 million prize pool in a stroke play tournament with a 54-hole length and no cuts.
The PGA Tour warned its members on June 1 that they may face penalties, suspensions, or bans if they competed in LIV Golf events without the Tour’s approval.
Charles Schwartzel takes first place at the first LIV tournament in Hertfordshire on June 12. In addition to Dustin Johnson and Tiger Woods, the competition also features Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, Sergio Garcia, and Louis Oosthuizen.
Major winners like Patrick Reed, Bryson DeChambeau, and the recently-committed Brooks Kopepka will soon be joining them on the Tour.
Henrik Stenson, Europe’s Ryder Cup captain, was dismissed from his position on July 21 when it was reported that he would be LIV’s newest signing.
On August 28th, eleven LIV golfers sue the PGA Tour for antitrust violations.
On January 23, 2023 Formerly known as the LIV Golf Invitational Series, the LIV Golf League has a brand new moniker as of this season. There will be 14 tournaments throughout the year, each with 54 holes.
Date: 6 LIV > There has been an official announcement of a merger between the PGA Tour and the European Tour in the world of golf.
05:14 PM
Defensemen on the PGA Tour take a major hit.
Ben An, a past winner of the BMW PGA Championship and current member of the PGA Tour, has called the transaction a “big lose” for PGA Tour purists.
05:10 PM
There are more outraged PGA Tour commentators.
05:09 PM
Featuring Monahan and Al-Rumayyan from CNBC
Commissioner of the PGA Tour Jay Monahan:
I believe that today marks a watershed moment in the PGA Tour’s and golf’s respective histories. You’re true, there has been a lot of tension in our sport over the previous couple of years, but this is a historic day for the PIF and the DP World Tour.
But what we’re discussing today is a concerted effort to bring all of golf under a single set of rules and regulations. And we’re doing it by forming a for-profit LLC in which the PIF will join the DP World Tour as an investor, and by working together, we’re going to push this fantastic game to new heights.
What has happened today is that we have realized that we can have more of an effect on the game if we work together.
“I give Yasir a lot of respect for being willing to sit down and talk things out. We did the same thing, and now golf is better for it.
Governor of the Saudi PIF Yasir Al-Rumayyan:
“We hooked up in London. We played golf the next day, then had lunch again. We talked about everything under the sun.
One of the things I mentioned at the time was that if we had met two or three years earlier, our influence on golf would have been much smaller. However, our partnership structure will have significant implications.
Together with our other assets, LIV and the PGA Tour will allow us to invest in the future of golf and try out some novel approaches that should garner more interest from sport’s various stakeholders.
In addition, I’m hoping that we’ll be able to make golf more accessible to a wider audience. What we lack at the moment is a system that makes golf as widely available as football, basketball, or any other major sport.
05:01 PM
Saudi Arabia’s continued use of sportswashing.
Human rights activists were quick to voice their disapproval of the agreement. While this may have surprised some golf fans and commentators, Amnesty International’s Felix Jakens told Telegraph Sport, “it’s really just more evidence of the onward march of Saudi sportswashing.”
Attempting to become a big sporting power and divert attention away from the country’s appalling human rights record, Saudi Arabia has been known for some time to spend large sums of money to force its way into the top tier of golf.
Away from the golf courses and the cameras, repression in Saudi Arabia has been increasing, with government critics and human rights advocates being jailed, a wave of wrongful trials occurring, and the death penalty being utilized often, including as a means of political repression.
Salma al-Shehab, a PhD student at Leeds University, was handed a lengthy prison sentence for tweeting her support for Saudi women’s rights campaigners; this was the highest number of executions in Saudi Arabia in at least 30 years.
It’s important that the recent uptick in Saudi sportswashing isn’t allowed to overshadow the deteriorating human rights situation in Saudi Arabia, even as the golf world is ready to put one of its most high-profile commercial disputes to rest.
04:53 PM
Observable omission
Greg Norman, CEO of LIV Golf, has not been quoted in any official news releases as of yet.
04:46 PM
The current US PGA Champion letting go
Brandel Chamblee, an analyst for Golf Channel, is one of the most vocal pundit detractors of the LIV.
Brooks Koepka was obviously not unaware of his remarks….
04:39 PM
Sky Sports News’ Andrew Coltart on the subject
Regarding his first impressions…
I’m completely taken aback. Reading through Twitter, it appears that everyone is stunned. No one was prepared for it.
Amazingly, everyone has learned the same thing at the same moment. Being a player-run organization, it stands to reason that the players themselves would have some say in the matter of the proposed merger.
That’s a bit strange, but that’s how CEOs get the power to make important decisions for their organizations.
Regarding Rory McIlroy…
I have to ask whether Rory McIlroy realized much of what he was getting into when he committed himself fully to the promotion of the DP World Tour and the PGA Tour during the past two years.
But if he had, it would have been a major diversion, and he could have wondered why he bothered putting in the work to come this far.
04:36 PM
Yet another dissatisfied member of the PGA Tour
Mackenzie Hughes of Canada is another PGA Tour player who says he found out about the contract for the first time on Twitter.
04:33 PM
“It’s a huge, stunning, glamorous deal.”
Donald Trump, a former US president, has shared his thoughts. The LIV Tour, which is supported by Saudi Arabia, has visited Trump properties.
“FANTASTIC UPDATE FROM LIV GOLF. The golfing world is in for a big, beautiful, glamorous deal. HUGE SUCCESS TO EVERYONE!!
04:29 PM
Rory’s LIV-quotes
Over the past two years, Rory McIlroy has been the face of the PGA Tour’s anti-LIV Golf campaign. He has been known to be scathing in his criticism of LIV and the player that joined the breakaway tour.
Some of McIlroy’s observations about LIV are included below.
If you want to play on a different tour, I think it’s fine to do so at this point. It’s understandable that you would choose financial success over maintaining friendships. You need only stroll on over. Don’t even think about returning to this location for more playtime.
Last week, or the week before, or whenever that case was filed, that’s when it happened. And if there’s one thing I can say, it’s that I have a bit more esteem for the guys who haven’t signed their names to the suit. So, sure, I guess that makes things a little more intimate.”
There is no place for LIV Golf in the golfing world. I disagree with LIV’s current course of action. I’d be ecstatic if LIV disappeared tomorrow.
04:22 PM
This week on LIV with Monahan
It was only a year ago when Jay Monahan referred to LIV as “a foreign monarchy that is spending billions of dollars in an attempt to buy the game of golf.”
Obviously, many people’s attitudes have shifted significantly since then.
04:19 PM
Something to keep in mind
The PGA Tour, the DP World Tour, and LIV Golf have all revealed a new business partnership today.
Exactly how golf will evolve as a commodity is still a mystery.
04:13 PM
Is it a 50/50 split?
It’s been incredible reading people’s initial reactions to this news. There are already competing theories, so it seems to have caught everyone off guard.
Michael Kim has questioned the inclusion of PGA Tour players in this agreement.
Former DP World Tour member and current LIV Golf employee Bernd Wiesberger has spoken in as well.
04:07 PM
DP World Tour’s Complete Statement
DP World Tour CEO Keith Pelley remarked, “This is a big day. Not only are we excited to renew our ties with PIF, but we also welcome the chance to strengthen our Strategic Alliance with the PGA Tour.
Together, we can continue spreading the game to every part of the globe and emerge stronger than ever.
It’s inspiring and motivating to be a part of this new organization and help shape the future of golf for everyone on the DP World Tour.
04:05 PM
Completely unexpected
It seems that Collin Morikawa was not the only one caught off surprise by this news.
04:02 PM
At 4:00 p.m., Mickelson is one of the first to weigh in.
A massive combination
The unprecedented union of LIV’s Golf with the PGA and DP World Tours is a watershed moment in the history of sports around the globe.
The first tentative steps have been taken toward healing a rift that has existed for two years and threatened to radically alter the golfing landscape.
PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan released the following statement: “The PGA Tour, DP World Tour, and the Public Investment Fund [PIF] today announced a landmark agreement to unify the game of golf, globally.
To create a model that delivers maximum excitement and competition among the game’s best players, the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour have agreed to merge with PIF’s golf-related commercial businesses and rights [including LIV Golf] to form a new, jointly owned, for-profit entity.
In addition, PIF will invest financially in the new company to ensure its continued development. The new organization (name TBD) will implement a strategy to expand the combined commercial enterprises, increase fan participation, and speed up existing growth projects. The PGA Tour, DP World Tour, and PIF will collaborate to “best feature and grow team golf going forward” as LIV Golf enters its second historic season.
The future of golf’s practical implementation is unclear in light of this business arrangement between the three most prominent golf tours in the globe.
The implications for the Ryder Cup are also unclear.
As this story unfolds, we will have more to say about it.
