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Published: June 6, 2023, 7:53 p.m.

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The PGA Tour ended its expensive fight with Saudi Arabia\\u2019s golf venture and now is joining forces with it, making a stunning announcement of a merger that creates a commercial operation with the Public Investment Fund and the European tour.

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As part of the deal, the sides immediately are dropping all lawsuits involving LIV Golf.

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From the golf side, still to be determined is how players like Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson can rejoin the PGA Tour after defecting last year for signing bonuses reported to be in the $150 million range.

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From the commercial side, the governor of Saudi Arabia\\u2019s sovereign wealth fund joins the PGA Tour board of directors and leads the new business venture as chairman, though the PGA Tour will have a majority stake.

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News of the deal came as a surprise to many watchers of the lawsuits and Saudi Arabia\\u2019s inroads into US politics, sports and culture.

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\\u201cThis is a huge development and obviously upends a world of golf, which has been perhaps more tradition-bound in the past,\\u201d said Kristian Ulrichsen, a Middle East fellow at Houston\\u2019s Baker Institute.

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Under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia\\u2019s sovereign wealth fund has made a point of seeking investments, like LIV, where it could shake up existing industries, Ulrichsen said.

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\\u201cThat\\u2019s sort of one of their mantras, to try to be disruptive and to take on the status quo,\\u201d she said. \\u201cAnd in this case, they seem to have succeeded.\\u201d

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As for PGA Tour players, most were bewildered by the shocking turnaround. It didn\\u2019t help that a news outlet broke the embargoed announcement before PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan could send a memo to the players. Most learned of the development on social media.

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\\u201cI love finding out about morning news on Twitter,\\u201d two-time major champion Collin Morikawa tweeted.

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Many were not happy. Wesley Bryan tweeted, \\u201cI feel betrayed, and will not ... be able to trust anyone within the corporate structure of the PGA Tour for a very long time.\\u201d

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Byeong Hun An added on Twitter: \\u201cI\\u2019m guessing the liv teams were struggling to get sponsors and pga tour couldn\\u2019t turn down the money. Win-win for both tours but it\\u2019s a big lose for who defended the tour for last two years.\\u201d

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The announcement comes a year after LIV Golf began. Monahan was at the Canadian Open that week and said pointedly about any player who joined LIV or was thinking about it: \\u201cHave you ever had to apologise for being a member of the PGA Tour?\\u201d

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Now they are partners, giving Saudi Arabia a commercial voice in golf\\u2019s premier organisation.

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\\u201cThey were going down their path, we were going down ours, and after a lot of introspection you realise all this tension in the game is not a good thing,\\u201d Monahan said in a phone interview with the Associated Press.

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\\u201cWe have a responsibility to our tour and to the game, and we felt like the time was right to have that conversation.\\u201d

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Monahan was headed to Toronto to meet players at the Canadian Open, though most top players are not there. And while this likely will only lead to greater riches in golf, there still was explaining to do on why the tour would merge with a group that tried to take away some of the PGA Tour\\u2019s best players and was seen as the latest example of \\u201csportswashing\\u201d.

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\\u201cI understand the criticism,\\u201d Monahan said. \\u201cFor me, you take the information you have at the time and make decisions in the best interests. Things have changed. This was the right time to have this conversation.\\u201d

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The deal was in the works for the past seven weeks, when Monahan met Yasir Al-Rumayyan, governor of the Public Investment Fund. Players typically approve changes to the schedule and other competition matters. On this one, they were left out.

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\\u201cNo one had word of this,\\u201d Monahan said. \\u201cOur players expect us to operate in the best interests of the tour.\\u201d

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PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan. Photo / AP

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Instead, he cited guidance from corporate members of the PGA Tour board.

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Still, Monahan has his toughest work ahead of him.

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He sought loyalty from his players against a league accused of taking part in sportswashing, an attempt by Saudi Arabia to shift focus away from its human rights abuses, such as the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

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Now the very group that posed such a threat is now the PGA Tour\\u2019s commercial partner.

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Along the way, PGA Tour players also got rich. The tour raised prize money at elite events to $20m, the same purse for LIV\\u2019s individual competition. The 2024 schedule has been reshaped for roughly 16 tournaments like that.

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\\u201cIn the short term, I expect a lot of questions and criticism,\\u201d Monahan said. \\u201cIn the long run, players who stayed with the PGA Tour will see they benefited in many ways.\\u201d

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The agreement combines the Public Investment Fund\\u2019s golf-related commercial businesses and rights \\u2014 including LIV Golf \\u2014 with those of the PGA and European tours. The new entity has not been named.

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Al-Rumayyan will join the board of the PGA Tour, which continues to operate its tournaments. The PIF will invest in the commercial venture.

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\\u201cFrom the very beginning, the whole initiative was how to grow the game of golf,\\u201d Al-Rumayyan said. \\u201cAnd I think what was achieved today was exactly that.\\u201d

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Augusta National and the Royal & Ancient welcomed the news because it ends the bitter feud. Augusta National said the deal \\u201crepresents a positive development in bringing harmony to men\\u2019s professional golf\\u201d. R&A CEO Martin Slumbers said it would help golf \\u201cmove forward in a collaborative, constructive and innovative fashion\\u201d.

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As for the new role of Greg Norman, Al-Rumayyan said only that Norman is LIV Golf\\u2019s commissioner and details of his future role would be announced in the coming weeks.

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Monahan\\u2019s memo to players indicated a strong Saudi Arabian presence. He said PIF would make a financial investment to become a \\u201cpremier corporate sponsor\\u201d of the PGA Tour, the European tour and other international tours.

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The PIF initially will be the exclusive investor in the new entity and will have the exclusive right to further invest, including a right of first refusal on any capital that may be invested.

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Al-Rumayyan has been spotted wearing a \\u201cMAGA\\u201d hat during LIV events at courses owned by former President Donald Trump.

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Former US President Donald Trump plays a shot during the pro-am at the Bedminster LIV Golf Invitational in July last year. Photo / Getty Images

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Trump predicted last July that a merger was inevitable and said anyone not signing with the Saudi league would be losing out. He weighed in Tuesday and called it a \\u201cglamorous deal for the wonderful world of golf\\u201d.

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Monahan said the merger came together the past seven weeks, with PGA Tour board member Jimmy Dunne responsible for bringing together Monahan and Al-Rumayyan. Dunne and Ed Herlihy, chairman of the PGA Tour\\u2019s board, will serve on the board of the commercial venture.

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Phil Mickelson and Bryson DeChambeau were among 11 players who filed an antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour last August. LIV joined as plaintiffs, and the PGA Tour countersued.

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The concern for PIF was whether its leaders could be deposed, which Saudi Arabia wanted to avoid. Being open to depositions would leave the kingdom\\u2019s leaders more vulnerable to legal action, including lawsuits demanding they reveal business deals in the United States.

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A federal judge had ruled the PIF could not claim immunity from the Foreign Service Immunity Act because of its commercial work with LIV Golf in the US.

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The PIF appealed the ruling to the Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals, which was likely to extend the lawsuit deep into 2024 if not longer.

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