Bombshell PGA Tour-LIV Merger Leaves Unanswered Competitive Questions

The stunning PGA Tour-LIV Golf-DP World Tour merger represents a most unlikely pairing of competing personalities, ideologies, and business models.

But the deal has raised another fundamental question: How is the golf going to work?

The union theoretically brings together the traditional large-field, cut-based competition of the PGA Tour and the small-field, no-cut tournaments of LIV Golf. Details of the future competitive format are scarce, but several key elements are in place:

• The team-based concept championed by LIV Golf will transfer to the new entity.
• Players who left the PGA Tour or DP World Tour to join LIV Golf can reapply to those tours after the 2023 season.
• The PGA Tour, LIV Golf, and DP Tour will collaborate on a "fair and objective process" for player reapplication, with existing PGA Tour rules guiding that effort.
• The remaining 2023 LIV Golf schedule is unchanged.
• Majors already allowing all qualifying players — such as the Masters — have predictably cheered the deal.

"The immeasurable strength of the PGA Tour's history, legacy, and pro-competitive model not only remains intact, but is supercharged for the future," wrote PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan in a letter to players.

Another undetermined element is the future compensation structure. LIV Golf transformed the sport with its nine-figure player signing bonuses and $25 million tournament purses, forcing the PGA Tour to respond with unprecedented hikes in prize money, reaching $20 million for top 2023 events.

Impact To Women's Game

The merger could also make a seismic impact on the women's game, as LIV Golf recently expressed interest in forming its own circuit to rival the LPGA — which itself has yet to comment on the men's merger.

Image by Allan Nygren on Unsplash