PGA Tour and LIV Agree to Merger

[mauconnfan]

Rory, Rahm all of them got taken to the cleaners. They turned down MILLIONS to be loyal to Jay and the tour. They took the podium for him and the tour, crucified LIV. And now what? They lost a lot of money to have the LIV players play with them now with all kinds of cash already in their pockets. Not that Rory or Rahm don't make a lot, but another 200-250K to play there would've been fine now!

What a load of crap!

That was meant to be 200-250M not “K”

 

[bristol rises]

I believe this entire situation goes back at least 5 years when the Saudi's were in discussions to acquire the then European Tour and combine it with the Asian Tour. PGA leadership saw this as serious threat and cut the Saudi's in line by purchasing a minority stake in the European Tour (DP now) and promising a strategic alliance.

LIV Tour became fallback option and retaliation.

 

[Waquoit]

At least we have something to compare leaving for the Big 12 to when talking to less tuned-in fans.

 

[Doctor Hoop]

Reading between the lines, what'll most likely happen is that there'll be a base pay scale for the exempt players, which may even be scaled depending on Fed Ex Cup rankings. Then for DP World tour players, and then lower for those who have to qualify, then for those who aren't exempt, then for Korn Ferry players. Which will help those who can play on tour but struggle to make cuts ($0). How much at each tier? I have no idea.

 

[zls44]

Jimmy Dunne as the guy who brokered this is really incredible. Of all the people!


(For those unaware: He's the guy high up with the PGA Tour who approached the PIF. Cofounder of bond trading syndicate Sandler. On the 104th floor of the South Tower. He had 66 of his employee/friends murdered on 9/11 while he was competing in the US MidAm.)

 

[Waquoit]

Jimmy Dunne as the guy who brokered this is really incredible. Of all the people!


(For those unaware: He's the guy high up with the PGA Tour who approached the PIF. Cofounder of bond trading syndicate Sandler. On the 104th floor of the South Tower. He had 66 of his employee/friends murdered on 9/11 while he was competing in the US MidAm.)

Nothing personal, just business.

 

[Fan1978]

Once a scab...

Saudi $$$ >>> all else

Pga was screwing the golfers. This was inevitable and good for all the players. Monahan was making more than most of the talent.

 

[Fan1978]

Phil's taken a pretty faux-moralistic stance on some of the monopoly issues that he's confirmed were complete nonsense now that he's celebrating this. Maybe it's slightly different because we all knew with 100% certainty that he was full of *** about that from the start.

Phil was broke plain and simple. He and his wife are degenerate gamblers

 

[Fan1978]

That was meant to be 200-250M not “K”

Rory is a piece of crap. Broke up with fiancé via text, imagine if that was your daughter. Don’t cry a river, rory, rahm etc will be made whole

 

[Duncan Idaho]

Pga was screwing the golfers. This was inevitable and good for all the players. Monahan was making more than most of the talent.

"the Tour later told the WSJ that Monahan's yearly pay for 2020 was actually $8.3 million, with the remaining $5.9 million consisting of long-term incentive pay and future retirement benefits. " from The Sporting News
$14MM compensation package. More now after this deal.

 

[uconnfan68]

Phil was broke plain and simple. He and his wife are degenerate gamblers

Anything to back up your “facts”? I’ve never heard a peep about his wife’s gambling.

 

[Chin Diesel]

I believe this entire situation goes back at least 5 years when the Saudi's were in discussions to acquire the then European Tour and combine it with the Asian Tour. PGA leadership saw this as serious threat and cut the Saudi's in line by purchasing a minority stake in the European Tour (DP now) and promising a strategic alliance.

LIV Tour became fallback option and retaliation.

Yes, spite is a huge motivator. And spiting someone who has deeper pockets and less checks and balances on how to spend it rarely ends up good for you.

 

[Duncan Idaho]

Feels like the Tour (and world golf) has become a for-profit place for some kind of mafia to openly launder its money.
I like listening or reading Harry Higgs thoughts on the Tour I think he should eventually write a book on it.
He was saying things are somber now across the membership.

 

[Duncan Idaho]

Question: the PGA players went to the LIV tour for big bucks...essentially providing
their services [playing golf] for the Saudi government.

How does that transaction compare to the U.S.Government partnering with Saudi Arabia
for decades...selling billions of dollars worth of high tech weaponry to the same
government?

Both wrong....both right....one worse/better than the other?

Can't do politics here and will only go as far as guessing one is about having some kind of geopolitical balance and our national security interest realities. and the other is not.

 

[ZooCougar]

So what will become of the 4 Aces and Team SMASH. I really hope those long storied franchises don’t come to an end.

 

[Chin Diesel]

So, if the PIF is funding this and has sign off others buying in, will is still be the Traveler's Championship or does it revert to the GHO?

If a title sponsor of an event does something at the corporate level the Saudis don't like, does the PIF have the juice to get them removed?

I'm still not convinced the final bit of inertia to put this whole new plan in to pkay was when Monahan nixed Raytheon taking over sponsorship of the tourney in Texas and Monahan going on record of saying no to Raytheon because they sell weapons and technology to Saudi Arabia. And that public rebuke really put in to spotlight all the companies the Tour does business with who also have financial ties to the country of Saudi Arabia and its government.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

This is beginning to look like new coke four decades later. Rahm is questioning the PGA's leadership while many who remained loyal when LIV offered tens of millions are feeling like fools for their loyalty.

 

[ZooCougar]

Who are the good guys? And who is harmed here? The rich guys who aren't richer because they didn't take the blood money?

The guys who didn’t take money from savages.

 

[Alydar]

Golf is my second favorite sport to watch on TV, behind college basketball. And if my following the PGA tour in any way supports the bloodstained Saudi Arabian dictatorship, I will never watch it again…
By the way, if you agree with these sentiments, you should say so on this forum, because you can be sure that the amoral capitalists are monitoring public opinion about this.

You better be ready to make some adjustments to your life cause here's a list of US corporations doing business with Saudi Arabia. They have major holdings in Chase, Citicorp, BOA and you would have to not buy any pharms from Eli Lily and Pfizer. No more Ford's for you and no flying on a Boeing jet (not that that's a bad thing). To say nothing of the US government bonds they buy with their oil money. No saudi bond buying, no more billion dollar toys for our generals to play with. So see, there is a bright side.

US Companies Doing Business in KSA

 

[ZooCougar]

You better be ready to make some adjustments to your life cause here's a list of US corporations doing business with Saudi Arabia. They have major holdings in Chase, Citicorp, BOA and you would have to not buy any pharms from Eli Lily and Pfizer. No more Ford's for you and no flying on a Boeing jet (not that that's a bad thing). To say nothing of the US government bonds they buy with their oil money. No saudi bond buying, no more billion dollar toys for our generals to play with. So see, there is a bright side.

US Companies Doing Business in KSA

Well, it’s not as easy or practical to eliminate that.

But choosing to ignore the Tour going forward is very easy and very practical.