Golf news: Inside the meetings and lawsuits that paved way for PGA-LIV merger

PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan meet the governor of the Saudi Public Investment Fund in mid-May – and two weeks later the shock deal was made. Here’s why it happened.

It took Jay Monahan just two weeks from meeting the governor of the Saudi Public Investment Fund to agree to the deal that has rocked the golfing world.

The PGA Tour commissioner, who has admitted the Tour used $100 million (about $148 million AUD) of reserves to combat the threat from LIV Golf, met Yasir Al-Rumayyan in Venice in mid-May when the Newcastle United chairman was attending the wedding of Formula One driver Lance Stroll’s sister.

Jimmy Dunne, a fellow PGA Tour board member, had laid the groundwork, but it was in Italy that Monahan and Al-Rumayyan sat down.

Within a fortnight, the deal was struck, according to the New York Times. The speed of that shows the willingness on both sides to end their dispute.

That was partly down to the discomfort both were feeling from the lawsuits.

PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan. Picture: SAM GREENWOOD / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA

The discovery phase has opened Saudi business deals to unexpected scrutiny, while the PGA Tour had been accused of colluding with the majors and DP World Tour to form a monopoly.

Monahan has also now admitted that the PGA Tour’s vastly-increased prize funds, designed to stop players decamping to the Saudi-backed LIV Golf circuit, was unsustainable.

He told employees the PGA Tour had also spent almost dollars 50 million in legal fees.

Monahan’s remarks about finances were at odds with the more bullish appraisal of the decision to partner with the PIF given by Dunne, who initiated contact with Al-Rumayyan.

He suggested the power still lies firmly with the PGA Tour, which will have the majority voting interest on the board of the new commercial entity that combines PIF, the PGA Tour and DP World Tour.

He called it “insane” to suggest Saudi Arabia had bought golf.

Rory McIlroy was vocal in his fight against LIV Golf. Picture: Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images

DP World Tour CEO Keith Pelley. Picture: Jan Kruger/Getty Images

The PGA Tour has called it an “oversimplification” to say the deal was down to a drain on reserves and legal fees.

The last financial figures, filed prior to changes to the prize funds, showed it had revenues of dollars 1.59 billion.

Key figures have stressed this is not a merger, but the official release last week stated: “PGA Tour, DP World Tour and LIV Golf merge commercial operations under common ownership.”

Keith Pelley, the DP World Tour, has played a straighter bat than Monahan on the issue of teaming up with Saudi Arabia.

Pelley’s line has been that division was bad for the golf ecosystem but he knows he needs to keep his members onside, which is why he said it will be “highly unlikely” that the players who resigned from the DP World Tour will be reinstated for this year’s Ryder Cup.

Originally published as Golf news: Inside the meetings and lawsuits that paved way for PGA-LIV merger