"I haven't read anything on it" - Dustin Johnson talks about PGA Tour's $3,000,000,000 SSG deal amid LIV Golf merger process
The $3 billion Strategic Sports Group investment into the PGA Tour has everyone talking, including Dustin Johnson. The star golfer is keenly aware of the situation, with the impending PIF merger and the investment from SSG throwing things into a bit of confusion.
Johnson even admitted that he wasn't totally sure what the SSG investment was for, but that he understood the basic point. He was quoted as saying (via the Mirror):
"To be honest, I have no idea. I mean, obviously I know the gist of it - it's a group that's investing some money into the tour… but that's about as far as it goes. I haven't read anything on it."
The PIF merger is the big move and that's still being worked on, with even the PGA Tour stating that the SSG investment is not a replacement for that deal.
Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau on the SSG investment in the PGA Tour
Dustin Johnson said that the investment was just about putting some more money into the PGA Tour. This investment may or may not be a response to the free-flowing funds that LIV has been working with over the last couple of years.
Bryson DeChambeau offered up a different take on it, though. He said (via the Mirror):
"Look, I don’t know exactly how it’s all going to shake out, when it’s all said and done."
He admitted that he wasn't sure, either. He knows things are changing rapidly and understands that PIF might be on the outside for the moment, but he's eager to see where the sport as a whole goes:
"I don’t know what it really means for the PIF’s position in it. What I can say is that any investment into the game of golf is gigantic, especially on their side... You’re just going to see both entities continue to grow, and I hope at some point we’ll come back together. It needs to happen."
A unified future where LIV Golf and the PGA Tour can coexist perfectly is what DeChambeau wants to see and he's not terribly concerned with how that future comes about. At the end of the day, money going into the sport is a good thing from his perspective.
"I hope people can just put down their weapons and come to the table and figure it out because that’s what’s good for the game of golf and for fans in general. But like I said, any additional capital going into the game of golf is always positive. I’ve always said that," he added.
What the future looks like is certainly unclear. The PIF merger is under review by the US Senate, and with Saudi Arabia issuing threats for compliance with the Senate, things don't seem to have a clear conclusion.
The SSG investment wasn't painted as a replacement for the eventual PIF merger, so it's up in the air as to how things will eventually shake out.