PGA’S PLAYERS HIT THE JACKPOT
Tour to benefit from €1.3bn injection
PGA Tour players will benefit from equity of more than £1.3billion after the US-based circuit announced an investment deal with Strategic Sports Group (SSG).
The payouts will be based on ‘career accomplishments, recent achievements, future participation and services’ and will only be available to qualified PGA Tour players, a memo to players read.
The deal also allows for a future ‘co-investment’ from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), which bankrolls LIV Golf, Down Mexico way: Meronk has joined LIV but that will be subject to ‘all necessary regulatory approvals.’
A deal with the PIF has faced scrutiny from the US Department of Justice and the Senate due to antitrust concerns.
The PGA Tour said its strategic alliance with the DP World Tour ‘remains a focus’.
‘As close partners, the DP World Tour was included in the original framework discussions and agreement announced last year and the Tour is in active discussions on how to best work together for the continued benefit of all,’ a statement read.”
PGA Tour player directors Tiger Woods, Patrick Cantlay, Peter Malnati, Adam Scott and Webb Simpson voted unanimously in favour of the deal between the newly launched PGA Tour Enterprises and SSG, a consortium of US-based investors which includes Boston Red Sox and Liverpool owner John Henry.
‘It was incredibly important for us to create opportunities for the players of today and in the future to be more invested in their organisation, both financially and strategically,’ they said in a joint statement.
Meanwhile Adrian Meronk and Lucas Herbert have joined LIV Golf ahead of the Saudi-funded breakaway’s first event of the season in Mexico.
Meronk, who won the 2023 Seve Ballesteros Award, has joined Martin Kaymer’s Cleeks GC, while Herbert is part of an all-Australian Ripper GC team headed by former Open champion Cameron Smith.
Meronk won the Irish Open in 2022 and three times on the DP World Tour last year and finished fourth on the Race to Dubai.