On June 6th, Jay Monahan and Yasir Al-Rumayyan appeared on TV together to make an announcement no one saw coming. Only a handful of people knew what was coming – probably the staff of PIF and a few tour executives. A merger was finally announced, and both tours had shaken hands. This news came as a shock to Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, and other prominent PGA Tou loyalists who had spoken outwardly against the Saudi-funded league.
Also, due to the sensitivity of the matter, there was no prior information about this happening. Collin Morikawa saw this on Twitter. Mackenzie Hudges was also unaware of the incident and got the news from a reporter. Cameron Young had no clue about this merger unless David McKay told him. Yet Young couldn’t have faith in the words until he saw them in the headlines. It was the weirdest 10 a.m. Tuesday ever in history. And the incidents and splits that followed were even worse.
The Merger That Created a Split in the Golf World
As soon as Monahan announced the news of the merger, he left New York for Toronto. Most golfers in Toronto were in a meeting, and many left before the meeting ended. Tommy Fleetwood left early and backed his decision by saying he wouldn’t get any more information by hanging there. Martin Trainer didn’t even attend the gathering.
For a long session of 75 minutes, the PGA Tour Commissioner was asked questions regarding the decision. Most importantly, he received hatred for planning this without the approval of the players who had remained loyal to the Tour. The players who weren’t present in the meeting displayed their unhappiness. One player, Grayson Murray, called out for Monahan’s resignation as commissioner.
Monahan backed his decision by highlighting a problem that the tour was going through. The litigation between the two circuits has reached an astounding cost in legal terms. He further said that the negotiations were underway and weren’t finalized yet.
At that point, a huge amount of chaos was created regarding who bought whom. But everything will be sorted out in a week as the framework agreement is finalized. A trusted source revealed that the deadline for the negotiations might be extended to April.
Harry Giggs said that players will get equity stakes in the new, unified entity of the tour. A player named Chesson Hadley wished to get paid for his loyalty to the tour for not switching to LIV Golf. But had he been Xander Schauffele or Ludvig Aberg, he would have clinched the leverage. But the ones who moved to the LIV league cannot return to the PGA Tour.
As the PGA Tour moves into its new season in 2024, this is one of the most striking incidents of the past year. In the entire thing, Rory McIlroy was made to feel like a ‘sacrificial lamb’, being the frontman to guard his tour. But with the merger, all his protests went weak. As a result, McIlroy withdrew from the PGA Tour’s policy board. Only a newly revamped framework can answer the pending questions that still remain regarding this outrageous decision.
