In a surprise announcement Tuesday morning that came after a year of bitter fracturing in men’s professional golf, the PGA Tour and the Saudi-backed LIV Golf tour announced an agreement to merge their business operations.
The ramifications of the development are still unraveling, as a 4 p.m. ET meeting has been scheduled for PGA Tour players, many of whom reported being entirely unaware of the agreement.
Both the PGA Tour and LIV Golf, along with the DP World Tour, announced the move in a joint statement published Tuesday. The merger aims to create “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.”
The terms of the agreement are not fully finalized and are scheduled to be completed in the coming months.
“After two years of disruption and distraction, this is a historic day for the game we all know and love,” PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said Tuesday in a statement.
“Going forward, fans can be confident that we will, collectively, deliver on the promise we’ve always made — to promote competition of the best in professional golf and that we are committed to securing and driving the game’s future.”
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