Amid the emergence of a potential multi-year deal which could see Jon Rahm join the LIV Golf Circuit, it remains to be seen if a merger between the Saudi Arabian tour and the PGA Tour will be struck
The £450m deal to lure Masters victor Jon Rahm from the PGA Tour to LIV Golf could provide a strong indication that a deal for a merger between those parties could be heading towards a stalemate, it has been claimed.
The Spanish sensation has reportedly agreed to sign a contract, despite being connected to a sensational switch to the lucrative Saudi Arabian tour for weeks. He is anticipated to ink a multi-year contract to join the tour in 2024, following in the footsteps of Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, and Phil Mickelson, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Acquiring Rahm in the same year that he won the Masters and four PGA Tour titles is a significant statement for Greg Norman and his partners. According to Barstool Sports, the agreement may mean that LIV Golf executives are getting ready for a scenario in which there is no agreement regarding the PIF, PGA Tour, and DP World Tour merger.
As he got ready to help usher in a new era in golf, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan hailed the proposed merger in an initial statement released on June 6. In an attempt to move past their 18-month disagreement, the PIF, the PGA Tour, and the DP World Tour asserted that a potential final agreement would incorporate all involved parties into a “new entity” that would function as a “collectively held, for-profit LLC.”
Speaking on November 29 at the New York Times DealBook Summit, Monahan reiterated that the completion of the merger by December 31 was still a “firm target.” He said that the following week’s agenda also included a meeting with PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan.
Monahan also mentioned the discussions with possible private equity partners, implying that any deal with PIF would involve at least one additional co-investor. “We’re having conversations with multiple parties,” he stated. As you know, we have a set deadline for our conversations with PIF.
“I’ll be with Yasir next week, and we’re still moving forward with our conversations,” he declared, seeming to be happy that a deal had been reached. “We’re also pushing to think about a large number of other interested parties, which I think is pretty well known.”
Similarly, there seemed to be optimism in the DP World Tour camp that a legally-binding agreement would be reached prior to the year’s end. Similar to Monahan, their CEO Keith Pelley expressed his “optimism” that the impasse would be resolved eventually.
Nevertheless, it has now been asserted that Patrick Cantlay, along with Jimmy Dunne and Ed Herlihy, is “calling the shots” for the PGA Tour, with the latter two allegedly not participating in the June 6 agreement negotiations. Moreover, rumors contend that Rahm’s attraction to LIV is a sign that they are getting ready to proceed without an agreement with the PGA Tour.
According to reports, players on the PGA Tour are currently very uncertain about their future. Barstool Sports further stated that while some parties are eager to work with the PIF, others are apprehensive about the deal’s potential long-term effects on the golf ecosystem.
Tiger Woods is one of the many people who have expressed how frustrated they are with the lack of concrete news regarding a proposed merger. “I think a lot of the players were taken aback by what happened so quickly without any input or information about it, it was just thrown out there,” he said, acknowledging that his reaction had been taken aback.
“We found what transpired to be extremely frustrating. It was only last week, he said, airing his frustrations, that “took us all by surprise.” “It happened so quickly without any of our involvement,” Woods continued. Nobody was aware. That must not occur once more.”
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