Many believe Jon Rahm's surprising defection to LIV Golf will lead to other big-name players making the movegetty images
The PGA Tour is “back on track to winning golf’s war” after the tour’s policy board announced plans to partner with Strategic Sports Group and once again put the tour in a position to “secure billions of dollars in PIF money and put the future of LIV Golf in the Tour’s hands,” according to Michael Rosenberg of SI. Strategic Sports Group is a consortium of investors that have “shown a willingness and ability to work with PIF and other Middle East investors” in the past. Just 11 days ago, there was a report that PIF is "interested in buying AC Milan from Redbird Capital," one of the investors behind Strategic Sports Group. Last spring, PIF hired execs from Mets owner Steve Cohen’s Point72. Meanwhile Redbird’s media company, Redbird IMI, is based in the United Arab Emirates. Rosenberg wrote there is now a "mutual interest from all parties to get a deal done with PIF.” A deal will allow the Tour to “bring in billions and neutralize the LIV threat.” Though LIV will “likely exist in 2024,” and the Tour “could incorporate the team-golf aspect in some way down the road if it chooses,” but LIV would no longer be a rival tour if a deal is done. Rosenberg noted a deal would allow Strategic Sports Group “to invest in the Tour” and “form an alliance with the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund.” The PIF “gets a major investment in golf” that has a “better chance of success than the enormous sum it has spent to get a tiny audience for LIV” (
SI, 12/10).
RAHM'S DEFECTION: In D.C., Rick Maese cited a source as saying that PGA Tour execs were “taken aback in recent weeks when LIV officials approached some of the tour’s players,” including Jon Rahm, according to a source cited by Rick Maese of the WASHINGTON POST. When their framework deal with Saudi Arabia's PIF was announced this summer, the rival tours were not allowed to poach players. But that clause was later removed, and now following Rahm’s decision, PGA Tour officials “must decide how upset they are over LIV poaching Rahm” and whether they “absolutely need Saudi money to continue with the ambitious plan to bolster the economic underpinnings of the organization.” Either way, Maese wrote the tour can “now anticipate losing more players to the LIV side,” a move many in the golf world believe the tour “tacitly sanctioned when it decided to partner with the PIF six months ago” (WASHINGTON POST, 12/8).
UNITED WE STAND: In West Palm Beach, Tom D’Angelo wrote the PGA Tour and LIV Golf “sure have a funny way of showing unity.” And it “appears LIV now holds all the leverage” in the framework negotiation following Rahm’s departure (PALM BEACH POST, 12/8).
A BIGGER LOSS THAN GAIN: GOLFWEEK’s Eamon Lynch wrote Rahm’s departure is “more a loss for the PGA Tour than a gain for LIV” as “one of the world’s best will be absent from Tour events." But it is “debatable how positively he impacts LIV.” Lynch wondered if the PGA Tour Policy Board will now conclude that an “imperfect peace with the Saudis is their best option,” or does Rahm’s poaching “harden sentiment against PIF among those who didn’t cash out?” Lynch: “Whatever direction they chart, choppy waters lie ahead.” The PGA Tour is “stumbling toward a business model that cannot be sustained” simply because “too many players are convinced their value is a multiple of what any market has ever dictated.” And the exit of a longtime sponsor -- “one that wished to remain in golf” -- should be “more of an alarm call to Tour players than losing Rahm.” Lynch: “It’s a deeply worrying sign that the PGA Tour is consuming itself because greed is masquerading as worth” (GOLFWEEK, 12/8).
CHANGING THE GAME: In Boston, Tara Sullivan wrote Rahm's defection to LIV "feels like the beginning of the end" for "golf as we know it." Rahm's announcement sent "a seismic jolt to the game," thrusting what had been a "relatively dormant conversation back into the spotlight." Yet reserving the latest outrage only for Rahm "excuses the poor leadership" of the PGA Tour. Sullivan wrote the PGA Tour has been "caught in a reactive pose for so long, focused instead on rolling back distance on the golf ball or alienating sponsors by catering to the financial demands of the highest tier of golfers." PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan and his crew "have so much to answer for." Sullivan wrote "as usual, fans are the ultimate losers" in this war (BOSTON GLOBE, 12/10).
