PGA Tour chiefs make big LIV Golf U-Flip that might save merger
PGA Tour gamers will be capable to characteristic in an upcoming LIV Golf occasion amid the rival organisations’ agreed merger. Golfers on the Tour have been authorized to play within the LIV Golf Promotions occasion subsequent month and won’t be penalised in consequence.
The news is a stark distinction to the PGA’s preliminary ruling when LIV Golf was first introduced again in 2021. PGA gamers had been topic to a one-year suspension from the Tour in the event that they had been to partake in any LIV competitions – deemed to be “unauthorised occasions.”
However, the LIV Golf Promotions event has only been recognised as a “qualifying occasion,” in line with a press release reported by GOLF.com.
“Based on the data publicly accessible relating to the LIV Golf Promotion occasion, it’s decided to be a qualifying occasion solely and never part of an unauthorised collection,” the PGA Tour assertion mentioned.
“Therefore, the LIV Golf Promotion occasion just isn’t categorised as an ‘unauthorised event.’ This classification is topic to alter ought to the small print of the occasion change.”
The LIV Golf Promotions event is scheduled to take place this December at Abu Dhabi GC. Players will compete for a share of the $1.5 million (£1.2m) prize pot, with the first-placed golfer earning $200,000 (£161,000).
The event was created for golfers to earn a place on the LIV Golf tour. Four places are currently up for grabs following the departures of Chase Koepka, James Piot, Sihwan Kim and Jediah Morgan – all of whom finished last season in the ‘Drop Zone’ and were knocked out of the league.
Despite Tour players being able to compete in the three-day competiton, they are still banned from competing in other events organised by the Saudi-backed tour. PGA Tour golfers who play and qualify at the event will then be left with a difficult decision to make -whether to stay or leave to join LIV Golf.
The agreement could go some way in to finding a compromise between the two rival tours. The merger was agreed back in June but both parties have been locked in negotiations with seemingly little end in sight.
The deal would see the two tours work under one umbrella named ‘NewCo’, alongside the DP World Tour. However, reports have since suggested that the merger could fall through with a deadline of December 31 set for the proposed framework agreement to be met.
And according to Fire Pit Collective’s Alan Shipnuck, the deal is close to collapsing.
“From speaking to people on Wall St. and in Silicon Valley who’re near the deal, the framework settlement is falling aside,” he posted on X. “Fenway Partners, the NY-based non-public fairness agency, has put in a monster bid to usurp the PIF. It appears more and more doubtless we return to LIV vs. the Tour.”