Today could have been deadline day for the golf world. Six months and 206 days after the bombshell merger deal between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia-backed LIV was announced on June 6, here we are. No deal has been reached, the civil war rumbles on and it appears there is no end in sight.
Negotiations between the tours have now been referred back to the Masters in April, but little has changed since news of the merger broke. The battles continue, but LIV's influence is increasing as that of the PGA Tour, to put it politely, is declining.
Jon Rahm took the money and walked away – prompting LIV's biggest critic in Rory McIlroy to rewrite the rules so he could play in future Ryder Cups – while even Viktor Hovland lashed out at now-beleaguered PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan earlier in December . , saying his organization views players “as labor, and not as part of the membership.”
LIV, meanwhile, is encouraged by Rahm's recruitment. LIV commissioner Greg Norman says his phone hasn't stopped ringing with players trying to follow him to the Rebels tour.
So where does golf go from here? Where could it go? Mail Sport weighs it all up.
Jon Rahm's move to LIV was a huge moment in the rapid expansion of the Saudi tour
LIV AND PGA MAKE A DEAL
If you can't enter the new year with fresh hope and optimism, then when?
A deal between the two organizations may seem far away, but one thing that unites players on both tours is the assertion that the bitter enemies must find a way to coexist.
In August 2022, new LIV recruit Bryson DeChambeau boasted about the two sides coming together, telling Tucker Carlson, “I know personally, whether it's legal or they come to the table and work out the terms, it's going to be figured out.” to work. I definitely think this will go away in the future.”
And speaking in November, McIlroy said: “I feel like we have a fractured competitive landscape at the moment. And I would prefer if everyone were in the same boat again. I think that's the best thing for golf.”
The framework mooted in June would combine the PGA Tour and LIV with the DP World Tour, but details beyond that, in terms of what the schedule would look like, were thin.
DailyMail.Com exclusively reported in August that a 2025 calendar backed by $2 billion in LIV cash would see 18 events outside the four majors held for leading players. Twelve would be in the US, three in Europe and three for LIV events.
Players would also be free to appear on all three tours: LIV, PGA and DP.
Bryson DeChambeau said in August 2022 that a deal between LIV and PGA would be made
Rory McIlroy, LIV's biggest critic, even agrees that the two circuits should be connected
LIV's team format is popular with players and is presented as one of the unique side notes to life on the breakout tour. But how that can be integrated into the PGA lineup is anyone's guess.
On that dramatic day in June, Monahan sat next to PIF Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan on television and underlined bold plans for the brave new wave era.
“It's going to be really big in a lot of ways,” he said. “We will have LIV and the PGA Tour and invest in the game of golf, doing a lot of new things that I think will bring better player engagement, fan engagement, broadcasters and more access.”
Does that include a team aspect for a new look for the PGA Tour? Does that include the three-lap shotgun starts that LIV has?
These are all details that, as far as we know, still need to be ironed out.
The conversations rumble on
Perhaps the worst outcome for the PGA Tour is living in limbo after The Masters.
When the merger deal was announced in June, Al-Rumayyan said an official deal could be completed “within weeks,” but that clearly hasn't happened.
And in the meantime, LIV has moved on and Rahm's recruitment is widely considered a game-changer. The Spaniard and the current Masters champion had long laughed at the idea of joining LIV.
'I laugh when people say I have LIV Golf. I never liked the format,” Rahm said as recently as August, four months before his deal was signed for around $500 million.
And while the likes of McIlroy have devastated those who have previously crossed the divide, Rahm has been met with grace by the Northern Irishman.
“I'm going to miss competing against him week in and week out,” he said. “I have nothing but good things to say about Jon. I respect him enormously as a golfer. It seems like he wants to live his life the right way.
'Is it a disappointment to me? Yes. But the golf landscape changed on June 6, whenever the framework agreement was announced. I think that made the jump from PGA Tour to LIV a little bit easier for guys. They let the first guys take the heat. This framework agreement actually legitimized what LIV was trying to do.”
Yasir Al-Rumayyan seemed in position to chair the new board if LIV and PGA were to merge
It's far from the greatest leap of faith to think others will follow Rahm's lead — not just because of Norman's comments about how often his phone rings.
Players may see that there is a shrinking window to join LIV for a huge sign-up fee, while there is still a stalemate. If and when the merger takes place, more lucrative prize money will no doubt be offered, but the sign-up fees may not.
The PGA Tour's appeal was further damaged when the launch of Tiger Woods and McIlroy's tech-infused 'The Golf League' was derailed when the roof of their custom-built stadium in Florida collapsed. Its launch is now scheduled for 2025.
NO DEAL
In some ways, for all their aggression in signing the world's best, perhaps the worst outcome for LIV is no deal.
Merging with the PGA Tour would give LIV a legitimacy and authenticity it doesn't yet have. For the stars on tour — Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Cameron Smith and now Rahm — their events don't yet attract the same attention or interest as PGA Tour events.
And for now, players won't get any ranking points for playing on the LIV tour, so players will continue to drop out of contention for the Majors,
Al-Rummayan said in June that he would become chairman of the new organization formed following a PGA/LIV merger, perhaps indicative of his own ambitions for a place at the top of the sport.
For the PGA Tour, reforms would still be needed to appease the likes of Hovland and prevent more stars from being turned upside down by LIV.
LIV needs an agreement with the PGA Tour to underline its legitimacy and authenticity
But there are suggestions that Fenway Sports Group could strike a deal with the PGA
But that could be within reach. In November, Tom Werner of Fenway Sports Group – the company that owns the Boston Red Sox and Liverpool FC – confirmed that discussions had been held with the PGA about another merger.
“The players will decide where the tour goes,” Werner said in an interview with CNBC in November, alongside Rory McIlroy.
It came a week after Alan Shipnuck, the author of the LIV and Let Die book, claimed FSG was an emerging presence in the future of the PGA Tour.
He wrote about X: 'A major problem from day one was the reporting about the 'merger'. The press release should have stated: 'Lawsuits have been withdrawn, we will sort out the rest later.'
'There is nothing binding in the framework agreement; it's ambitious. The Tour is committed to a new biz model, but not to the PIF$.”
He continued: “From conversations with people on Wall Street and Silicon Valley close to the deal, the framework agreement is falling apart.
'Fenway Sports Group has made a monster attempt to appropriate the PIF. It seems more and more likely that we will go back to LIV versus the Tour.'