Explaining golf’s great undivide

The announcement was so shocking that not even PGA Tour players knew what was coming. The tour was fighting the threat of Saudibacked LIV Golf for more than a year. Yesterday they decided to start working together.

The PGA Tour, European tour and Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund say they will combine their commercial businesses into a new company with hopes of unifying golf.

That means all lawsuits are dropped. The other details create as many questions as answers. That starts with whether top stars such as Phil Mickelson and Brooks Koepka – suspended for taking massive Saudi money to leave the PGA Tour for LIV – will have a way back. They would rejoin players who stayed loyal to the tour.

The PGA Tour was in federal court trying to require Yasir AlRumayyan, the governor of the Public Investment Fund, to give testimony in an antitrust case. And now, Al-Rumayyan is on the PGA Tour board of directors.

Some players felt they were betrayed. Top players have not commented because they know so little about what this means.

LIV Golf had tried to get all the top players in the world ranking. Many turned down bonuses estimated at US$100 million or more to stay loyal to the PGA Tour.

The PGA Tour looks nothing like it did when LIV Golf started. PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan says he couldn’t match Saudi money, but it wasn’t because of a lack of effort. This year the PGA Tour had 13 ‘‘elevated events’’ with US$20 million purses. For 2024, it has returned its schedule to start in January and end in August. There will be about 15 tournaments with

US$20 million purses – nearly twice as much as they were – for the top 50 in the season points race on the PGA Tour.

Why did the PGA tour merge with LIV Golf?

Monahan had refused to meet with the Saudi Golf group for two years. But a few months ago, PGA Tour board member Jimmy Dunne arranged a meeting. Monahan, European tour CEO Keith Pelley and Al-Rumayyan began working out an agreement. Monahan realised LIV Golf had a deep well of funds and wasn’t going anywhere. He says golf was too divided and had too much tension and it was best for everyone to come together.

Who will be in charge of the PGA Tour after the merger?

The PGA Tour policy board will add Al-Rumayyan, and then it will either add another player or remove one of the spots that belong to the corporate world. The new commercial company will have AlRumayyan as the chairman and Monahan as the CEO. The PGA Tour will have a majority stake in the new company. However, PIF at first will be the exclusive investor alongside the PGA Tour, LIV Golf and the DP World Tour. Going forward, PIF will have the exclusive right to further invest.

As far as fans are concerned, the PGA Tour will still be the same logo and the same tour. Ditto for the European tour, whose commercial name is DP World Tour.

Where will the LIV defectors play next year?

LIV Golf will finish its second season this year as scheduled. After that is anyone’s guess. Monahan says officials will conduct a thorough evaluation of how to integrate team golf into the PGA Tour. LIV Golf was trying to turn its 12 teams into franchises. No one had sponsored a team.

WOMEN’S FIFA WORLD CUP WATCH

agreement over the player release date for international duty.

The row has been rumbling on since April, when the European Club Association raised concerns over national teams’ plans to call up players before the official Fifa-sanctioned release date of July 10. The teams, however, have argued that assembling 10 days before the World Cup kicks off is ridiculously inadequate.

An agreement was reached on a non-mandatory suggested release window of June 23-29, to try to strike a balance between the demands of national teams and clubs. But England manager Sarina Wiegman wants to bring her squad together on June 19, but officials are yet to strike any formal agreement with the clubs – putting the players in a difficult position.

Sports ministers of five European countries have been forced to wade into the dispute between broadcasters and Fifa. Again, we are just six weeks out from the World Cup, and broadcast rights are yet to be awarded in several major European markets.

Ministers in the UK, France, Spain, Germany and Italy have issued a joint statement in which they urged Fifa and broadcasters to quickly reach an agreement on the unsold television rights. The group ‘‘acknowledged with concern’’ that an agreement was not in place, but said they are confident Fifa and broadcasters will ‘‘find a common path’’ (which is ministerial speak for ‘‘would you guys just sort this out?’’).

The move follows a threat of a European TV blackout by Fifa boss Gianni Infantino, who described the ‘‘disappointing’’ broadcast rights offers as a ‘‘slap in the face’’ of the players and all women worldwide.

He said European broadcasters had offered Fifa in the range of $1.6-$16 million for the rights, compared with up to $350m for the men’s World Cup. Rights offers for previous tournaments were bundled together with other events, including the men’s World Cup, but Fifa has now separated the bidding process.

Former French captain returns to squad

Speaking of stand-offs, one of the great stand-offs in international football has come to an end.

Former captain Amandine Henry has been included in France’s provisional 26-player squad for the World Cup following a lengthy absence from the international setup.

The 33 year-old midfielder has not played for France since December 2020, making herself unavailable for international duty following a falling out with former coach Corinne Diacre.

Diacre was spectacularly sacked in March this year after several more key players, including new captain Wendie Renard, said they would no longer represent their country due to the ‘‘irreversible dysfunction’’ in the team under Diacre’s tenure.

Diacre, also a former French captain, was replaced by Herve Renard (no relation to Wendie).