PGA players were in shock yesterday when they had read on Twitter that the PGA tour and the DP tour (European Tour) were to merge with LIV Golf. Players thought what they were reading was some kind of joke. A fake account or fake news. Players that had joined LIV thought the same, Some had been given £200 million to abscond to LIV golf and now they would be back on the tour by 2024 with their tour card and the bag of money that they had received for joining the rebel league.
PGA Chief Jay Monaghan announced the surprise move yesterday morning and the sporting world is still trying to come to terms with what just happened. For the last 2 and a half years the PGA have been fighting tooth and nail to stop players who are joining LIV Golf , the breakaway golf tournament. They took them to court , filed lawsuits and even upgraded their own tournaments so the players could play for more money. They basically went to war with them. At one stage Jay Monaghan even compared joining the Saudi backed League to selling out America and included 911 as a reason not to move to LIV. Here he is on the Golf Channel saying just that
https://twitter.com/Stephen_Geiger/status/1666097966434639872?s=20
- Stephen_Geiger
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However being offered up to $300 million dollars to play golf tournaments that were a day less in your working week (LIV means Roman numerals means 54 as opposite to the 72 hole format), it was a no brainer for players usch as Phil Mickelson , Brooks Koepka , Dustin Johnson , Bryson DeChambeau, Cam Smith and the older guys such as Graham McDowell , Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood. They all took the Saudi gold and are financially secure for the rest of their lives and their grandchildren's lives no doubt. These players were looked upon scornfully by the PGA and when they turned up at majors they were treated differently. One little dig at Augusta was pairing the LIV golfers up with the old timers who would take their time going around Augusta to soak up the atmosphere. It has been a tough couple of years for these guys being outcasts in their own sport. The loyal players that turned down the money such as Justin Thomas , Tiger Woods , Colin Morikawa and most notably Rory McElroy became the water carriers for the PGA tour. The news broke without these guys knowing what was happening apparently. Colin Marakawa tweeted about it. He found out the news on Twitter. Rory is in a quandry. He has been the poster boy for the PGA tour and now they go and merge with LIV. He will be raging. He has yet to issue any statement at this blogs time of writing. But it essentially means the golfers than left and now swanning back into the party with all their cards and playing rights back to normal. I laughed at this video.
https://twitter.com/PGALIVHotTakes/status/1666110980177231872?s=20
- PGALIVHotTakes
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So what does this merger mean?
It basically means the Saudis prefer a share in the PGA tour rather than having to run their own golf tournament so they will use their investment to take a share in the PGA tour so that gold reunited. By the time 2024 comes around it is predicted that there will be no LIV golf tour and all the players will back on the PGA. So the moral of the story is the baddies have won. If a rival company offers you an obscene amount of money to move to them then take it . Take it with both hands because if you do not then your company that pay you might.
We are only beginning to see the outrage in the golf world around this. Jay Monaghans's position is seen to be untenable and he addressed the players before the Canadian open last night, Many golfers and gold journalists pinned their colours to the mast so this is embarrassing for them because the institution they were protecting and supporting have now gone off with the very enemy they were protecting them against. When Cam Smith won the Presidents Cup he was getting an awful lot of abuse , Trump weighted in to support him . This is what he said. He knew.
https://twitter.com/litecoin_bull/status/1666279905691332608?s=20
- litecoin_bull
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The fall out from this is still at the beginning. Some say some players will now walk away from the tour and join their own breakaway league. Who knows what will happen right now. Jay Monaghan is now in charge of World Golf but he might not be able to look people in the eye for the next year if he lasts that long. The PGA needed money to compete against LIV. It was unsustainable to offer crazy tournament purses to keep up with LIV so for business sense it takes away the competition and they get a cash injection. Some say this is a genius move because the Saudis will not have that much control. But a couple of years ago before LIV formed , this is what the Saudis wanted originally. And now they have what they wanted. A stake in the PGA.