04:22 PM
Monahan on LIV
Just a year ago, Jay Monahan called LIV “a foreign monarchy that is spending billions of dollars in an attempt to buy the game of golf.”
The stance of many has clearly changed a lot since then.
04:19 PM
An important reminder
Today’s announcement has unveiled a commercial deal between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and LIV Golf.
There is little clarity as yet on how golf will actually look as a product moving forward.
04:13 PM
Split down the middle?
Reading initial reactions to this news is extraordinary. It genuinely appears to have caught the game of golf completely off guard – with varying viewpoints already emerging.
Michael Kim has questioned whether PGA Tour players should have been considered in this deal.
Bernd Wiesberger, who left the DP World Tour for LIV Golf, has also offered some reaction.
04:07 PM
Full statement from DP World Tour
Keith Pelley, Chief Executive of the DP World Tour, said “This is a momentous day. We are delighted to be able to not only reignite our relationship with PIF, but also to have the opportunity to build on our current Strategic Alliance partnership with the PGA Tour.
“Together we will be stronger than ever and well positioned to continue to bring the game to all corners of the globe.
“To partner in this new entity and influence the growth of the game for all our DP World Tour members is energizing and exciting.”
04:05 PM
Bolt from the blue
This is a story that caught many off guard, including Collin Morikawa it appears.
04:02 PM
Mickelson among the first to chime in
04:00 PM
A merger of huge proportions
LIV’s Golf’s sensational merger with the PGA and DP World Tours is a seismic event in world sport.
The initial steps in closing a two-year schism that had the potential to fundamentally alter the landscape of golf have begun but how this new partnership will manifest itself remains unclear.
A statement from the PGA Tour’s commissioner Jay Monahan, read: “The PGA Tour, DP World Tour and the Public Investment Fund [PIF] today announced a landmark agreement to unify the game of golf, on a global basis.
“The parties have signed an agreement that combines PIF’s golf-related commercial businesses and rights [including LIV Golf] with the commercial businesses and rights of the PGA Tour and DP World Tour into a new, collectively owned, for-profit entity to ensure that all stakeholders benefit from a model that delivers maximum excitement and competition among the game’s best players.
“In addition, PIF will make a capital investment into the new entity to facilitate its growth and success. The new entity [name TBD] will implement a plan to grow these combined commercial businesses, drive greater fan engagement and accelerate growth initiatives already underway. With LIV Golf in the midst of its second, groundbreaking season, the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and PIF will work together to best feature and grow team golf going forward.”
This is a commercial agreement between the three dominant golf tours in the world, leaving questions as to how golf will practically look in the future.
Also up in the air is what this means for the Ryder Cup…
Stay with us for a full reaction as this story develops.
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