PGA Commissioner Jay Monahan said tour couldn't compete with Saudi funds, which led to LIV merger: report

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The merger between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf shocked the sports world earlier this week, but Jay Monahan apparently has his reasons for agreeing to it.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Monahan told employees the tour could not continue to compete with the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF), which boasts an estimated $620 billion.

The PGA had already racked up $50 million in legal fees and earmarked another $100 million for higher purses in its tournaments, according to the report.

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Jay Monahan, commissioner of the PGA Tour, speaks to the media at a press conference prior to The Players Championship March 7, 2023, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. (Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)

"We cannot compete with a foreign government with unlimited money," Monahan reportedly told employees. "This was the time. … We waited to be in the strongest possible position to get this deal in place."

The merger ends all pending litigation involving the PGA, LIV and DP World Tour.

Despite the PGA's superstars remaining loyal to the tour, though, Monahan not only merged with the PGA's former rival, he said in a memo to his players that the PIF will be "contributing … a significant financial investment" in the deal.

"The new agreement will merge the PIF’s golf-related businesses, which include LIV Golf, with that of the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour into a "​​new, collectively owned, for-profit entity to ensure that all stakeholders benefit from a model that delivers maximum excitement and competition among the game’s best players," Monahan said in a press release earlier this week.

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