PGA Tour merges with Saudi fund behind LIV Golf

The PGA Tour has announced its merger with the Saudi fund behind LIV Golf to create a new entity, which is yet to be named. The announcement, made on Tuesday, took players by surprise as they were not given prior notice of the agreement. The PGA Tour’s decision to merge with the Saudi fund to avoid litigation and talent loss has been criticized for making it complicit in Saudi Arabia’s “sportswashing” and disingenuous in its protestations about the kingdom’s human rights record. Additionally, the PGA Tour has been accused of showing contempt towards players who had taken a stand against the Saudi cash being offered to them. The deal has given Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman international legitimacy that no diplomatic summit could provide. The merger concludes a battle that started with LIV Golf’s founding in 2021 as a rival to the PGA Tour, backed by a $600 billion fund. It remains to be seen how the merger may change the tradition-bound sport, as the notoriously fun-loving Saudis had tried to loosen things up, but the country’s human rights abuses cannot be ignored. Despite the “reformist” image cultivated by the crown prince, Saudi Arabia carried out the largest mass execution in decades just last year. The PGA Tour’s decision to merge with the Saudi fund constitutes one of the most shocking acts of shamelessness in modern sports history.