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It reads like an april fool’s joke or Saturday Night Live Graphic: PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan — once bitter rivals — sit side by side Tuesday morning on the CNBC set, praising their decision to merge their foundation.
Only there was no audience laughing or laughing.
Because, amazingly, this partnership is actually happening.
The PGA Tour and LIV Golf, along with the DP World Tour, have found common ground, or at least common coffers – a business agreement worth untold billions but which runs counter to everything Monahan and his team of pro-mountain tourism have been preaching for the past two years. the last two.
“What we’re talking about today is getting together to unify the game of golf, and doing it under one umbrella,” Monahan said.
This was the same Guy Monahan whose tour was assaulted by LIV Golf and in an ugly legal battle with him. who fired players who signed with the upstart league. which accused LIV of being an indefensible act of nothing more than a sportswashing project to wash Saudi Arabia’s public image. Who berated players for aligning themselves with a nation with ties to 9/11?
“I would like to ask any player who has left the PGA Tour or any player who might be considering leaving,” Monahan told CBS’s Jim Nantz On last year’s Canadian Open telecast, “Have you ever apologized for your PGA Tour membership?”
A year later, how does Monahan reconcile the startling change of tour with his past comments and feelings? With the same message many LIV defectors have sent when asked why they left in the first place: The Tour just wants to develop the game.
“Together, we realized we could have a much greater impact than we could work separately,” Monahan told CNBC’s David Faber, “and I give Yasir huge credit for coming to the table with an open heart and an open mind. We’ve done the same, and golf is even better.” For what we did here today.”
Manahan and Al Rumayyan did not say when the secret summit took place, except that it happened with a small group in London over two lunches and a round of golf. Almost as shocking as the agreement was that both parties managed to keep it under wraps. Players on both sides seemed unaware of any deal, as did many members of both organizations. Al-Rumayyan said that not even Greg Norman, LIV’s commissioner and CEO, was told of the plan until Tuesday morning.
Monahan will speak about his membership at a players-only meeting at the Canadian Open at 4pm local time on Tuesday, in a session that will no doubt ignite with high emotion. Given the time and brainpower so many players – Rory McIlroy among them – have committed to the tour defense since their peers began signing with LIV, it might be wise to get to Oakdale G&CC not in Brooks Brothers but in body armor.
“Tell me why Jay Monahan basically got a promotion to CEO of all the golf in the world by going back on everything he’s said for the past two years,” Tour professional Dylan Wu He tweeted on Tuesday morning. “Hypocrisy. I wish golf worked like this. I think money always wins.”
Joel Dahmen took an even more ridiculous tone, Tweet from Team LIV Dustin Johnson: “I grew up admiring the 4 aces. Maybe one day I’ll play for them on the PGA Tour!”
Really, there is very little we know about the deal and its potential impact and ramifications. On CNBC, Monahan and Alramian spoke in sweeping generalizations, stating that the partnership would lead to “better engagement” for players, fans, and sponsors, and that it would provide an opportunity to expose more people to the game.
Details were few, apparently because they are still being worked out.
“The first step is today,” Al-Rumayyan said. “The second is the final agreement.”
He added, enigmatically, “Working together, we can get on a faster track than we’ve had in the last 10 or 20 years.”
The newly formed body does not yet have a name, but it has begun to assemble a board, which tells you something about the hierarchy of decision-makers. Al-Rumayyan is the Chairman of the Board, and Monahan is the CEO. Beneath it will sit an executive committee that includes, for the time being, Ed Herlihy, Chairman of the Tour Policy Board, and Jamie Dunn, Member of the Tour Policy Board, with more board members to be announced at a later date. Dunne’s involvement is especially significant given that his investment firm lost several employees on 9/11 and he has spoken critically about the players who joined LIV. (“I don’t like it when they say they’re developing the game,” Den Tell Sports IllustratedMichael Rosenberg a year ago. “This is nonsense. I don’t even like it when they say ‘I have to do what’s best for my family.’ I really wonder how many of those guys, the lifestyle they had were so awful that their families needed them to do that”).
Questions about what next? Yes, you may have a few.
Is Al Rumayyan now Monahan’s boss, and if so, does that make him the golfer? Will LIV players still pay in full for their original deals? Will LIV franchises now become more acceptable to sponsors? Are Saudi investors pushing for more PGA Tour events in the Middle East? Will players who have remained loyal to the PGA Tour turn into full form? What will Rory think, say and do? Was Phil Mickelson acquitted? If LIV claimed the PGA Tour was a monopoly, how would you rank an umbrella company that owns the top three men’s golf tours?
Oh, and in the end, will this be a win for the fans? In fact, however you feel about merger ethics, the best players in the world will now have more than just four chances a year to play against each other.
“This is not just a resolution to the contention in our game, but also a commitment to take it to new heights,” Monahan said in a statement announcing the partnership. “This will usher in a new era in world golf.”
last new era. Fasten your seat belts, people.