PGA Tour Loyalists Set To Be Compensated For Missed LIV Golf Deals; Saudi Investors Creating Fund: Report
Last week's merger heard worldwide between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf still has people looking for answers.
By joining the Saudi-funded league, the PGA Tour upset many of its loyal golfers that turned down LIV contracts to preserve a sense of integrity in golf, an idea championed by PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan. Also, to avoid fines and bans used by Monahan to dissuade the LIV defectors.
PGA loyalists wondered if they would get compensated for turning down hundreds of millions of dollars from LIV.
Jay Monahan has been the PGA Tour commissioner since 2017. (Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)
Turns out, they actually may get their money (but guess who's paying) ...
According to The Times, one group is spearheading a fund to give the Tour's regulars money they missed out on by not defecting ... and it's the Saudis that are, once again, shelling out the big bucks.
Saudi Investors Behind LIV Golf Expected To Dole Out Big Paydays
The report details that Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund — who funded LIV — will pay large sums to satisfy both sides of the merger: compensating the PGA players for the unsigned LIV offers and letting the LIV guys keep the money they've already accepted.
Everyone's getting paid by the Saudis ... whether Brandel Chamblee likes it or not!
Details remain unclear on the fund heading into the start of the U.S. Open on Thursday at the Los Angeles Country Club.
RELATED: SAUDI GOLF CEO SHUTS DOWN REPORTS OF TIGER WOODS’ ENORMOUS OFFER TO JOIN LIV GOLF
Names like Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods, Hideki Matsuyama and Jon Rahm missed out on LIV's "dirty money."
McIlroy admitted to feeling betrayed by the merger. He pressed for the PGA to solve its issue of compensating the loyal players and expressed hope in resolve.
One LIV executive took direct aim at Rory McIlroy following news of the merger with the PGA Tour. (Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images)
"The simple answer is yes. The complex answer is, how does that happen?" McIlroy said to the media during the week of the merger. "That's all a grey area and up in the air at the minute. It's hard for me to not ... feel somewhat like a sacrificial lamb."
Seven of the 10 highest-paid golfers last year were paid by LIV.
According to Forbes, LIV's contracts in 2022 "boosted the earnings of the ten highest-paid golfers by an estimated $370 million since May, bringing their combined haul to a record $650 million."
Commissioner Monahan, who's been away from the start of the U.S. Open due to an unknown (and certainly ill-timed) "medical situation," will operate as the new superleague's chief executive. Two fellow executives will perform Monahan's duties in the interim.
The merger will reportedly phase out LIV Golf by 2024 as a brand to boost the PGA Tour.