Merger News Upends Golf World
On Tuesday, June 6, the PGA TOUR did what it promised never to do – merge with Saudi-backed LIV Golf.
It promptly sent the golf world into an uproar. Perhaps no one better summarized the controversy than Joe Pompliano on Twitter when he said, “The PGA TOUR convinced many of its players that taking Saudi money from LIV Golf was immoral. But now the PGA TOUR is merging with LIV, creating a new entity with Saudi's sovereign wealth fund as the only outside investor. The players that turned down the money must be PISSED.”
Here’s what you need to know.
It is actually a three-tour merger. While the headlines read “PGA TOUR” and “LIV Golf,” the to-be-named for-profit corporation will also include the DP World Tour, commonly known as the European Tour. Before the merger becomes official, the three tours will complete their current season. Other details and pertinent information are murky at best.
This merger ends all pending litigation between the tours. This includes the antitrust lawsuit filed by Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau, and nine other golfers from LIV Golf in August 2022.
PR will be a major problem for PGA, and for more reasons than expected. As a daily Front Office Sports newsletter said, “For the PGA TOUR, controlling the narrative will be key to gaining public support for its partnership with Saudi Arabia’s controversial Public Investment Fund.”
It will be difficult to control a narrative without publicists, but the PGA TOUR appears short on publicists after Clout Public Affairs ended its relationship with the PGA TOUR following the announcement.
According to Yahoo!, “the firm had been working with both the PGA TOUR and the families of 9/11 victims who had been agitating against LIV Golf for its Saudi ties. It was one of a number of public relations or lobbying shops that had cashed in on the high-profile feud between the storied PGA TOUR and the controversial upstart LIV Golf.”
"Given recent events, we have respectfully ended our engagement with the PGA TOUR,” said Ashlee Rich Stephenson, Clout’s president, in a statement. “9/11 Justice remains a client.”
The blowback doesn’t stop there. It continues on with DeChambeau’s disastrous CNN interview. Read more in Sports Illustrated’s article “Bryson DeChambeau Gives Embarrassing Quote on Dealing With Saudis in CNN Interview.”
Golfers aren’t the only people upset. Politicians are too. Chris Murphy, a U.S. Senator from Connecticut, retweeted an ESPN graphic announcing the merger and said, “So weird. PGA officials were in my office just months ago talking about how the Saudis' human rights record should disqualify them from having a stake in a major American sport. I guess maybe their concerns weren't really about human rights?”
While the news unfolds, it’s a good time to read some scathing columns, including two titled “We should have seen PGA Tour-LIV deal coming. Golf's 'leaders' are spineless,” “The PGA Tour rolls out a blood-red carpet for Saudi Crown Prince and LIV Golf,” and “The LIV Golf-PGA Tour merger shows why sports is so good for image washing.”
The only thing left to ask is … what happens next?