LIV and Pga, the agreement that does not exist

Last week, delegations from the PIF and PGA Tour met in New York to discuss the legendary merger between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour (and by extension, the DP World Tour, ed.). The latest chapter in the soap opera (I can’t think of another term to describe this long-running affair) saw Tiger Woods (but Jay Monahan?) at the helm of the PGA Tour Enterprises guys, supported by Adam Scott, another member of the Policy Board.

LIV Golf – PGA Tour, results

According to ESPN, the parties are trying to define the terms for a liquidity injection ($1 billion, ed.) into PGA Tour Enterprises by the Saudi Sovereign Fund. In a few months, it will have been a year since the deadline (December 31, 2023) that was originally set for closing the final agreement.

In recent months, there have undoubtedly been more signs of a difference of opinion between the parties than of a common goal. So much so that several dubious messages have come from both sides about the necessity/desirability of the proposed merger.

Woods’ entry into the front line (this is the second meeting he has attended, after the one in March last year, editorial note) does not appear to have had much effect. According to Bloomberg, the two sides are “closer” to an agreement, but there are still some critical points that need to be resolved.

First of all, the PGA Tour players have no intention of traveling the world to participate in a truly global Tour, but that’s nothing. Brace yourself. The PGA Tour players have taken aim at the money vote of their “colleagues” who signed with LIV Golf, offering them three options: Refund all monies received from LIV Golf;
Pay fines (which will be allocated to charity) to participate in tournaments on the (future) PGA Tour;
To occasionally forfeit any amounts of money they may have won in tournaments on the (future) PGA Tour.