Hole-in-one
The pro-golf world was left stunned yesterday after the PGA Tour and Saudi-backed LIV Golf announced a merger, also taking in the DP World Tour. The deal aims to “unify the game of golf”, with all ongoing litigation dropped.
LIV Golf emerged as a competitor to the traditional PGA Tour last year, teeing off its first tournament in June. Before the first driver was even out of the bag, however, the competition was marred in controversy with accusations of “sportswashing” as high-profile players signed on with the tour for huge fees — bankrolled by the Saudi kingdom’s colossal $650 billionsovereign wealth fund.
The green
There are other key differences between the tours too, LIV’s inaugural season featured 8 tournaments of 54 rounds (LIV is 54 in Roman numerals), compared to the PGA’s standard 72, though it’s the immense prize money on offer that’s been the biggest game-changer. Each LIV tournament has an eye-popping $25 million purse — $20 million for individual prizes and $5 million for teams — with the top three individual performers over the season sharing an additional $30 million.
Fewer players and larger sums mean substantial earnings regardless of finishing positions, with even those at the bottom of the leaderboard could secure hefty $120,000 sums, while the average payout surpassed $500,000. This has dwarfed the prize money offered by established events such as the Players Championship on the PGA Tour, which averaged just under $300,000 and a minimum payout of $41,000.
