Posted on 06/06/2023 7:13:03 AM PDT by Eccl 10:2
KEY POINTS
The PGA Tour agreed to merge with rival LIV Golf, which is backed by the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund, an entity controlled by the Saudi crown prince.
The proposed merger comes after the PGA Tour and LIV Golf have been embroiled in lawsuits regarding antitrust claims.
The deal would end all pending litigation.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnbc.com ...
I think "merger" is the wrong word for this. More like cooperation in that they will allow the LIV tour World Golf Ranking status. Which means you will see more tournaments that use WGC for eligibility, having more of a mix of players.
I wonder how the players who turned down the $$$ and stuck with PGA feel today? I also wonder how hard their spouses can kick them in the ass.
For many in the top 50, they must feel tens of millions poorer.
LOL
LIV player Brooks Koepka winning the US Open really drove a nail in the coffin of the PGA Tour trying to go it alone. LIV has more money, PGA Tour has better marketing and TV deals - merging was the way to go.
Will trannies be allowed to play in Saudi Arabia?/s
So, all this holier-than-thou talk from the PGA tour was just bullshit.
And all the demonizing of PGA stars going to LIV by the PGA and fans was just B.S?
Well now is time for fans to put up or shut up. As for the PGA, they’ve already caved.
What was the old line, contributed to Churchill? “We know what you are now we are just haggling over price”
“The deal would end all pending litigation.”
Appears they figured out the money they were paying lawyers was going into a bottomless pit. Why not make money instead of spending money.
Exactly....follow the money.
LIV is the Roman numeral for 54. The idea was for 54-hole golf tournaments.
Behind the scenes the PGA players were the ones pressuring the PGA. This will mean more money for them as well - the reason the LIV took off in the first place.
So three rounds instead of four?
I think this year’s majors put the handwriting on the wall for the PGA. They were betting they would stay better than LIV, that their players would be in better shape, and would out run LIV. With LIV getting multiple top 5s in each, and a win in 1 it showed that maybe not flogging your players can be good. Plus of course the PGA doesn’t run most of the majors. There were probably some behind the scenes discussions about shutting LIV players out, and the organizers of the majors said “nope”. Which all could put the PGA on a path to becoming the “small” league. We’ve seen the upstart league cycle in many sports, they generally come in addressing issues with the sport, often player pay, and the end game is either merge (NFL-AFL) or get replaced (British darts is a good example). I’ll give the PGA and DP credit for seeing how things were lining up and taking the merge path rather quickly.
Right. Three rounds, no cut.
The PGA was under immense pressure from PGA players who were the only ones who would lose big from further deterioration of the PGA. This was inevitable, but this isn't a true merger. I suspect it is agreement on allowing these leagues WGR status.
The PGA head is talking about changes to the structure of the tour. Which they’ll have to do regardless of how much of a true merger this is. They’re only talking about the high profile stuff like team golf, but the big thing is going to be the low end players. Those guys that don’t make the cut all the time have a hard time in the PGA, no cut means no money, actually it means negative money since they had to pay to get there, pay for the hotel, and still have to pay the caddie. Even last place in a LIV event gets paid, and paid pretty well. That’s been a problem in the PGA for years, and lots of low end guys have talked about it. That’s really the weakness LIV drove through. Sure luring high end players with big pay days made the headlines, but those young guys working their way up are the future of the sport. And they’re going to go for guaranteed pay. Because nobody becomes a professional anything to not get paid.
Agreed
All sports serves to do is distract white American men and keep them politically-detached, while white and black women destroy everything.
My first thought as well. Ouch.
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