PGA Tour Stuns Players After Confirming Merger With LIV Golf Tour

Summary:

• PGA Tour surprised its players by merging with the LIV Golf Tour
• All lawsuits between the two rivals have been dropped as a result of the merger
• Many players have criticized the PGA for being two faced

The PGA Tour took a harsh stance when the Saudi backed LIV Golf Tour launched and made it clear that any players that defect to the LIV Golf Tour would no longer be welcome on the PGA Tour.

The issues between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf Tour went to the courts and it looked like it would take a long time for things to settle.

This is why the international golf community were left in shock when the PGA announced on 6th June that they had decided to merge with the LIV Golf Tour.

PGA-LIV Golf Tour Merger

There was no indication that the two sides were having behind the scenes conversations about a potential merger which is one big reason for the international golf community being caught off-guard. The PGA and the LIV Golf Tour have now dropped all lawsuits since the two parties have now merged.

Jay Monahan, PGA Tour Commissioner shed more light on these developments when he faced the press and tried to explain the change of stance from the PGA regarding the LIV Golf Tour.

In a statement, Monahan said

They were going down their path, we were going down ours, and after a lot of introspection you realize all this tension in the game is not a good thing.We have a responsibility to our tour and to the game, and we felt like the time was right to have that conversation.

Many Players Call The PGA Two Faced

Given the tough stance that the PGA took on its players to warn them against joining the LIV Golf Tour and now the U-turn to merge with the LIV Golf Tour, players have been left disappointed and upset.

Many fans took to social media to call the PGA and its board two-faced and said that they would find it difficult to trust anything the PGA said going forward. Monahan recognized the backlash and tried to offer an explanation to appease upset fans and players.

Monahan said he expected people to call him a hypocrite but said his comments were always made based on the information he had at the time and now things changed because the two sides decided to go down the same course!