The “framework” agreement that united the PGA Tour and LIV Golf’s Saudi backers was submitted to US lawmakers on Monday night ahead of a Congressional hearing, according to multiple reports.
The deal, obtained by Golf Channel and the Washington Post, outlines a “long-term strategic partnership” between the rival tours, which had been battling over talent and attention for a year before the financial merger plan was struck.
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US Senators Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut, and Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican, are set to review the deal as members of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations ahead of a July 11 hearing.
The agreement brought together the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) but does not detail many of the questions top players have had since the deal was announced three weeks ago, including the fate of LIV Golf and details about how players who left the PGA for LIV might someday return.
What the agreement has already done is end lawsuits the PGA and LIV had filed against each other, actions that could have revealed details about the PIF and PGA Tour in a court case next year.
The PGA, DP World and PIF would combine for-profit assets into what was dubbed NewCo with the understanding PIF would make an investment into the new company, which would have PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan as chief executive officer and PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan as chairman of the board of directors.
Interestingly enough, LIV boss Greg Norman was not mentioned anywhere in the agreement.
The Australian golf great was left out in the cold during the negotiations and learned about the deal after it had gone public.
He is also yet to publicly comment on the matter.
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Such assets would include “contracts/agreements and equity interests” but not tax-exempt assets, corporate reserves or player retirement plans.
Exactly how much PIF would invest in the new company, where it would have a “non-controlling voting interest”, would depend on valuations and details established in a later agreement that would outline final terms of the deal.
Left uncertain is the future of LIV Golf, which conducts its latest 54-hole event this week in Spain.
Also unknown is exactly how players who were banned by the PGA after leaving for LIV — including five-time major winner Brooks Koepka, who won last month’s PGA Championship — might return, the deal saying the tours and PIF will “work cooperatively and in good faith to establish a fair and objective process”.
Players who stayed with the PGA Tour reportedly would receive equity in the new company under some formula while those who went to LIV would not.
Al-Rumayyan, Norman and Monahan were invited to the Senate hearing regarding lawmakers’ concerns over possible anti-trust violations and the PGA Tour’s tax-exempt status.
Monahan has been ill and might be replaced by another PGA Tour official.
