The war between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf is ending with the two joining forces.
The PGA Tour and the Saudi-backed rebel league are merging into one company, The PGA Tour announced.
The two sides will also be merging with the European DP World Tour.
All parties will work on the potential for LIV players to reapply for memberships with the PGA and DP Tours after this year, according to Golf Digest.
“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 in a statement. “This transformational partnership recognizes the immeasurable strength of the PGA TOUR’s history, legacy and pro-competitive model and combines with it the DP World Tour and LIV – including the team golf concept – to create an organization that will benefit golf’s players, commercial and charitable partners and fans. 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.
“We are pleased to move forward, in step with LIV and PIF’s world-class investing experience, and I applaud PIF Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan for his vision and collaborative and forward-thinking approach that is not just a solution to the rift in our game, but also a commitment to taking it to new heights. This will engender a new era in global golf, for the better.”
Greg Norman, CEO and commissioner of LIV Golf, during a tournament in July 2022.via Getty Images
PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan speaks in January 2018.US PGA TOURLIV Golf, financed by the Saudi Public Investment Fund and led by Greg Norman, lured some of the top names in golf last year with reported nine-figure contracts, including Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau.
The PGA Tour then banned any LIV Golf defectors from competing on the Tour, and the two leagues were embroiled in an antitrust battle.
With the merger, the Tour and LIV agreed to end all litigation between the two sides.
Phil Mickelson was one of the most prominent golfers to defect from the PGA Tour to LIV Golf.USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con According to the PGA Tour, the Saudi Public Investment Fund “will make a capital investment” into the new, yet-to-be-named supertour.
“They were going down their path, we were going down ours, and after a lot of introspection you realize all this tension in the game is not a good thing,” Monahan told The Associated Press.
“We have a responsibility to our tour and to the game, and we felt like the time was right to have that conversation.”
