Getty Image / Ben Hsu/Icon Sportswire
The golf world has been fractured for years now, ever since LIV Golf launched and siphoned off many of the PGA Tour’s biggest stars including Bryson, Brooks, Phil, DJ, and other golfers so popular their last names aren’t even necessary for you to know who I’m talking about. But the dark days of golf appear to be at its end as there are reports that a PGA Tour-LIV Golf deal is imminent.
After all of this time, details remained scant on what a unification deal might look like and now that the end seems near there are seemingly credible reports of what the future could hold. According to Bloomberg reporters Gillian Tan, Giles Turner, and David Hellier, the Saudi PIF is close to securing “a roughly 6% stake in the PGA Tour’s commercial arm.”
I came across this news on social media when I saw GolfNewsNet owner Ryan Ballengee post “All of this was for 6 percent of PGA Tour Enterprises?” and that question has been resonating with me ever since. How can, after three LIV Golf seasons and a complete upending to the structure and popularity of professional golf, this have all been over a measly 6%?!
According to the Bloomberg report, the Saudi PIF investment and infusion of cash would boost the PGA Tour Enterprises value to around $12 billion.
As for how the reintegration of the players would look, there are a number of ways that could happen. In fact, there’s been no shortage of suggestions made over the past few years on how it might look to have LIV Golf stars back in the PGA Tour fold.
On the two sides, there are PGA Tour grinders who absolutely to not want to see the LIV Golf stars handed the proverbial keys to the city without some sort of retribution for them taking huge LIV Golf contracts. And on the LIV Golf side, it seems the vast majority of the tour’s stars genuinely do not care about returning to a full slate of PGA Tour events and they have thrived with the lighter atmosphere and team golf elements LIV has offered.
At the end of the day, there’s a maximum number of players who can be in the field for PGA Tour events. With any LIV Golf stars taking a tee time to say the PLAYERS Championship or other marquee events that means a regular on the PGA Tour who is fighting week after week to keep their TOUR card might not make it into the field. So difficult decisions will have to be made.
The PGA Tour-LIV Golf deal news also comes after reports that Greg Norman will soon be ousted as the CEO of LIV Golf. Those rumors have been circulating for months now and it remains to be seen if that will happen if/when a PGA Tour-LIV Golf deal is finalized.