Golf journalist blames ‘clueless’ PGA Tour for “poisoning professional golf”
Ever since the PGA Tour and LIV Golf saga started, there have been several revelations in the golf circuit. Recently, golf Journalist Alan Shipnuck blamed the PGA Tour for teaming up with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia (PIF) and LIV Golf.
The PGA Tour has been accused of 'poisoning' the realm of professional golf. According to Shipnuck’s revelation, before the emergence of the LIV league, the PGA Tour was given the opportunity to cooperate with the Investment Fund, back in 2021.
At that time, Jay Monahan dismissed the PIF participation. Nevertheless, now it seems that they made a mistake since they acknowledged that they had no choice but to join forces with the PIF.
Alan Shipnuck feels that Monahan and the company have affected the professional golf world in several ways. He went on to discuss the same on Mirror Sport, stating:
"Naivety would be a kind way of putting it. It was cluelessness, it's denial and the Tour has paid a heavy price for that. After two-and-a-half years of strife, they are negotiating with the Saudis, which they could have done before LIV launched.
"Before a bunch of their best players left, before poisoning professional golf in a lot of ways. So it was predictable."
The PGA Tour didn't realize the threat the Saudi powerhouse posed until June of this year, at which point they announced a 'framework agreement' with PIF.
This would directly involve the Saudis in the tours and would enable them to influence the PGA Tour and DP World Tour.
LIV League planning for a third season amid uncertainty with PGA Tour
The LIV League wraps up its second season this weekend in Miami. And now, it’s time for the league to set up another schedule for the third season.
Although the merger news has been buzzing around for quite a long time, the LIV league is gearing up with a third-year schedule for 2024.
There could be a possibility that by the end of this year, the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund may run LIV Golf as a component of a newly established for-profit company.
Alternatively, the league might continue to be its own separate tour and try to undermine the golf industry. The negotiations and the possibility of working together, however, seem to decrease every passing day.
As a result, LIV league executives are trying to set a worldwide schedule for their third season, which might or might not include more players as well as teams.