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The PGA Tour and LIV Golf are at a crossroads in terms of an agreed upon merger, which has been at a standstill for much of the last year. According to a report from Bloomberg, talks “inched closer” towards the finish line last week.
Members from each side met in New York to discuss what their future partnership with one another would look like. Unfortunately, there seems to be one major holdup.
Money!
Shocking, I know.
The PGA Tour stunned the golf world with an announcement last summer of intentions to merge with LIV following a months-long rivalry with the upstart league.
Not only was LIV swiping notable players from the PGA Tour, but it was paying out massive contracts in the process.
Unable to hang onto some of his top golfers, commissioner Jay Monahan agreed to work together. Since that agreement, however, not much has changed!
The initial merger had an initial proposed deadline of December 2023. That date was later extended into 2024.
Talks have apparently sparked back up, though PGA Tour members are still caught up on one particular aspect of the deal.
LIV earnings.
Many of the players want to see some sort of monetary punishment for those golfers that bolted for LIV. That punishment would come in one of a few forms, according to Bloomberg.
Some PGA Tour players want [Jon] Rahm – and others – to hand back money they’ve made from LIV… Other options include paying fines to participate in events, giving to charity, or agreeing to forfeit any future career winnings on the PGA Tour.
That third option sticks out!
Forfeiting future PGA Tour earnings would essentially mean playing for free. You can already guess how that would be received by current LIV golfers… It wasn’t!
Jon Rahm, whom the story singles out due to his reported $300M LIV contract, previously shared his unwillingness to pay fines, which is another proposed punishment from the PGA Tour.
He’s yet to do so while attempting to play on the DP Tour.
Jon Rahm asked by @BobHarig about his fines appeal to play on the DP Tour & admits he was holding out as long as possible, “You’re still waiting towards the end after hearing their were certain meetings happening in New York that maybe things would change.” pic.twitter.com/aAcXHaQLdl
— Chris McKee (@mrmckee) September 16, 2024
Simply handing back their earnings is also an unlikely option, though notable PGA Tour reps remain firm on dealing out punishment for LIV golfer reintegration.
PGA Tour players want to see repercussions for breaking loyalty. LIV players aren’t willing to just give the money back.
It will be interesting to see what happens next in the negotiation process.