LIV, PGA and DP World, historic agreement

• golf

They call it "a historic agreement", aimed not only "at ending the ongoing disputes", but also at "unifying the game of golf, on a global basis". After two years of judicial disputes and 115 days from the start of the Ryder Cup in Rome, the PGA Tour, the DP World Tour and LIV Golf, with a joint press release, announce what could be renamed as the pax of the green.

But that's not all: the PGA Tour, the DP World Tour and the Public Investment Fund (PIF) have sanctioned an agreement that aims to unite the various commercial activities under a single property.

Liv Golf, statements

"After two years of distractions and quarrels, this is a historic day for the sport that we all love and know.

With this partnership we will create an organization that will benefit everyone", the satisfaction of Jay Monahan, commissioner of the PGA Tour. "We are proud to partner with the PGA Tour to leverage the unprecedented success of the PIF to innovate and unify, promote golf worldwide,” said Yasir Al-Rumayyan, Governor of the Public Investment Fund.

The PIF will initially be the sole investor in the new entity which will see Al-Rumayyan as chairman and Monahan as CEO. LIV Golf, also known as the Super Golf League, is a professional golf circuit. It was founded in 2022, with the sponsorship of the Public Investment Fund (it is the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia) 1.

The circuit rivals the PGA Tour (United States) and the DP World Tour (Europe), offering substantially higher prize money. The name LIV refers to the total number of holes to be played in each event (54 in Roman numerals, corresponding to 3 rounds of 18 holes), as opposed to the usual 72 holes (4 rounds of 18 holes) on other tours.

Alternatively, 54 is the score obtained by scoring a birdie on every hole on a par 72.2 round. In March 2022, the CEO of LIV Golf, former professional golfer and former world number one Greg Norman, announced the schedule for the first season of the LIV Golf Invitational Series.

This consists of eight tournaments, to be played over a total of 54 holes without cut. Each tournament will have a field of 48 players, who will be grouped into 12 teams of four players, with simultaneous starts. The total amount of prizes to be distributed amounts to 255 million dollars.