Golfer – illustration photo.
New York – The split in the world of men's top golf appears to be over. The representatives of the PGA Tour, the European Tour and the new LIV series announced today in a joint statement the formation of the merger agreement, which also includes the termination of all legal actions that the parties have conducted against each other over the past two years. The result of the arrangement will be the creation of a joint global entity with the aim of unifying professional golf. The Saudi Arabian public investment fund, which is now financing LIV, will enter it as capital.
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“After two years of division and disagreement, this is a historic day for the game we all know and love,” said PGA Tour chief Jay Monahan.
The world of men's golf has been tense since the series' inception last year LIV Golf, which began to compete with the well-established PGA Tour. It has attracted a number of top players with its lucrativeness, nine-figure sums for “transfer” and generous bonuses at tournaments. The PGA Tour punished defectors with expulsion from the PGA Tour, and the European DP World Tour also banned golfers from participating in their tournaments. Because of this, the players also turned to the court.
Critics of LIV Golf, however, mainly pointed to the fact that the series is financed by Saudi Arabia, and warned that the country is trying to improve its image damaged by the human rights situation.
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“They (LIV) went their way, we went our way… and when you look at it, you realize that all the tension is not good. We have a responsibility to our Tour and the game as such and we sensed that it was the right time to discuss it,” Monahan told the AP agency.
