Many have been critical of the PGA Tour following its planned merger with Saudi-backed LIV Golf. The merger now may be in question after reports that The Department of Justice is investigating the partnership.
Some PGA Tour players have been critical of the merger, taking issue with PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan because many turned down LIV money to stay loyal to Monahan and the tour.
Fortunately for them, it now seems like this potential merger will need to go through some serious hoops to ever go into practice.
According to The Wall Street Journal, The Justice Department has notified the PGA Tour that it will review the Tour’s planned merger with LIV Golf’s Saudi backers for antitrust concerns.
They also added that this likely means that a potential merger will now be pushed back significantly due to this investigation, which could take up to a year.
Many around the golf world took notice of this news and offered their opinion on how the investigation will go.
Perfect. https://t.co/6y5Fh5O3op
— LanaQuest aka RosaSparks (@LqLana) June 15, 2023
"(T)he PGA before the birth of LIV was a walking swinging antitrust violation and Congress couldn’t have cared less." https://t.co/k0h1gn5zaE
— Daniel Libit (@DanielLibit) June 15, 2023
I hope Full Swing is still filming!! https://t.co/pJlEi88TWV
— Conner Schenk (@cschenk6) June 15, 2023
Who could have possibly seen this coming? https://t.co/mQPIfEegxy
— Jeff Proctor (@cjproctor74) June 15, 2023
Boom. Here it is. https://t.co/zgx2IobWMW
— Brian Guest (@brguest20) June 15, 2023
The PGA Tour issued a statement following this news, stating that they believe the merger is ultimately “protecting the American institution of golf”.
“We are confident that once all stakeholders learn more about how the PGA Tour will lead this new venture, they will understand how it benefits our players, fans, and sport while protecting the American institution of golf.”
It’s obviously unclear how this investigation will go, but it is very clear that this will be a talking point in the sport for the foreseeable future.
