The PGA Tour is braced for a backlash from Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy after it emerged that the two superstars were left in the dark over the controversial merger with LIV Golf.
The world of golf was rocked on Tuesday by the shock news that the two warring factions who had divided the game were coming together. The initial creation of LIV Golf sparked a bitter feud between those who stuck with the PGA Tour and those who left for the huge contracts being offered by the Saudi Arabian-owned tour.
PGA Tour players like Colin Morikawa and Sahith Theegala spoke out about their surprise over the U-turn on social media. And it has since emerged that Woods and McIlroy were also not briefed about the deal – a detail which raises questions about how it came about.
Woods and McIlroy have both been firm backers of the PGA Tour during the feud with LIV Golf. Woods stood behind the tour despite being offered an eye-watering £650million package by the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund entity, while McIlroy rejected £400m to switch sides.
Neither player has spoken since the shock news was confirmed, but privately feel angry about being blindsided. McIlroy attended a players' meeting at the Canadian Open, where furious players spoke about their anger at learning the developments via social media.
PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan had been one of the breakaway league's biggest critics, but has now had a complete change of heart. He trumpeted the “transformational” deal as a “historic day for the game” before being grilled over the lack of communication with players.
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Asked if he regretted not speaking with players like Woods and McIlroy before signing the deal, he said: “Listen, again, what we've agreed to here is a framework agreement, and the binding elements are tied to the litigation. A lot of these details we've got to work through.
“If we had announced a definitive agreement this morning and I was calling them in the morning and I had made commitments on behalf of the PGA Tour and not had an opportunity to fully vet them with our policy board and with those two individuals in a larger group, then that would be a complete miss on my part, and I recognise that.
“But this was us reaching a framework agreement. We think it's the right agreement. Obviously Tiger and Rory's perspective is one that I understand very well, and it was part of my thinking throughout these conversations, and it will be a part of my thinking going forward.
“Now that we're in a framework agreement, I look forward to talking to all of our players, including the two of them, to make certain that this comes off the right way.”
