PGA-LIV merger LIVE: Rory McIlroy speaks to media and latest golf news and updates

Rory McIlroy has welcomed the newly announced merger between the PGA Tour, the DP World Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. McIlroy said he was “resigned” to the fact the Saudis are determined to spend money in golf and was relieved that the sport’s civil war is set to end.

Litigation between the parties ended after they resolved to work together under a new, yet-to-be-named entity which will oversee elite golf. The PGA Tour will hold majority control of the sport’s new boardroom while enjoying significant investment from PIF, whose head Yasir Al-Rumayyan will take his place as chairman of the new company.

“Whether you like it or not, the PIF are going to keep spending money in golf,” McIlroy told a packed press conference at the Canadian Open. “I see what’s happened in other sports, I see what’s happened in other businesses. I’ve just resigned myself to it.

“At least the PGA Tour now controls how that money is spent. If you’re thinking about one of the biggest sovereign wealth funds in the world, would you rather have them as a partner or an enemy? At the end of the day, money talks, and you’d rather have them as a partner.”

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Saudi Arabia’s growing influence in world sport took arguably its most significant step yet on Tuesday.

The LIV Golf series, backed by the finances of the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), is merging with the PGA and DP World Tours to create a new vehicle which will manage the commercial interests of top-level golf, ending a year-long dispute between LIV and the established tours.

Here, the PA news agency looks at how and why Saudi Arabia has become such a major player and what its future ambitions might be:

Leaders of the PGA Tour should be “ashamed of their hypocrisy and greed” in agreeing a deal with Saudi-backed LIV Golf, according to a group representing relatives of victims of 9/11.

After a turbulent year in the sport since the creation of the LIV Golf Tour, backed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, a surprise deal was announced on Tuesday to work with the PGA Tour and DP World Tour (the European tour) on commercial matters.

But with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) backing the new, joint venture, 9/11 Families United said it is “shocked and deeply offended” by the move which it says is “bankrolled by billions of sportswashing money”.

A statement from the group said: “Saudi operatives played a role in the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and now it is bankrolling all of professional golf.”

The group’s chair Terry Strada, whose husband Tom died in the World Trade Centre’s North Tower, said PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan had “co-opted the 9/11 community” when the split between the tours happened.

PGA Tour players left in the dark over the secret merger with LIV Golf vented their fury at commissioner Jay Monahan in a heated 75-minute meeting at the Canadian Open on Tuesday night.

Rory McIlroy was among those stunned by the news, announced in a statement by the PGA Tour earlier in the day, which revealed an end to its legal wranglings with LIV, the Saudi-funded rebel tour.

Now the PGA Tour, LIV Golf and the European DP World Tour will unite under one umbrella entity, yet to be named, with the PGA Tour taking majority control of a yet-to-be-formed board, and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) taking exclusive investment rights to fund the game.

Many players turned down lucrative Saudi offers to stay loyal to the American tour, and they are furious after discovering the PGA’s sudden pivot to embrace LIV only through social media.

At a hastily convened meeting at Oakdale Golf and Country Club ahead of the Canadian Open, players let out “a lot of anger” in the direction of commissioner Monahan, US golfer Johnson Wagner told the Golf Channel. He said there was a standing ovation at the suggestion of appointing a new PGA Tour commissioner.

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Bryson DeChambeau, the former U.S. Open champion who was one of the first big names to sign up for LIV Golf, said he felt “bad” for the players who stayed loyal to the PGA Tour after the bombshell merger was announced on Tuesday.

The sporting world was left stunned when the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and rival Saudi-backed LIV circuit ended their bitter two-year dispute and announced an agreement to merge and form one unified commercial entity.

The shockwaves from the deal look set to reverberate for a good while and PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan has already faced calls to resign at a meeting with players at the Canadian Open in Toronto.

The most aggrieved players are likely to be those, like Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Hideki Matsuyama, who turned down eye-watering sums from LIV Golf to remain loyal to the PGA Tour only to see the tours merge.

“I do feel bad for the PGA Tour players because they were told one thing and something else happened, and our side, we were told one thing and it’s come to fruition,” DeChambeau told CNN.

“It does stink a little bit from my perspective that the PGA Tour players are not necessarily winning. I hope they can find a way to make sure that they are valued in the same way that we are over at LIV.

“I think that’ll happen, it’s just going to take some time ...”

An interesting development as the US Senate finance chairman, Ron Wyden, says he will be “digging into” Saudi Arabia’s involvement in golf.

And Senator Dick Blumenthal calls on PGA commissioner Jay Monahan to resign. “I think the commissioner has been so discredited that he can hardly present a credible voice for PGA. I think he has really failed not only the fans ... but also the players and now really owes it to them to potentially resign.”

Rory McIlroy has welcomed the newly announced merger between the PGA Tour, the DP World Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. McIlroy said he was “resigned” to the fact the Saudis are determined to spend money in golf and was relieved that the sport’s civil war is set to end.

Litigation between the parties ended after they resolved to work together under a new, yet-to-be-named entity which will oversee elite golf. The PGA Tour will hold majority control of the sport’s new boardroom while enjoying significant investment from PIF, whose head Yasir Al-Rumayyan will take his place as chairman of the new company.

“Whether you like it or not, the PIF are going to keep spending money in golf,” McIlroy told a packed press conference at the Canadian Open. “I see what’s happened in other sports, I see what’s happened in other businesses. I’ve just resigned myself to it.

“At least the PGA Tour now controls how that money is spent. If you’re thinking about one of the biggest sovereign wealth funds in the world, would you rather have them as a partner or an enemy? At the end of the day, money talks, and you’d rather have them as a partner.”

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So that’s Rory McIlroy’s media duties done. The key lines from his press conference:

• Says he has “resigned himself” to the fact that Saudi Arabia will keep spending money in golf. “At least the PGA Tour now controls how that money is spent”
• “Would you rather have them as a partner or an enemy? At the end of the day, money talks, and you’d rather have them as a partner”
• Reveals he was told the news on Tuesday morning just hours before the PGA’s statement
• “Ultimately when I look at the bigger picture, 10 years down the line, it’s going to be good for the game of professional golf. It secures its financial future”
• “I still hate LIV! I hate LIV. I hope it goes away and I fully expect that it does”

“I still hate LIV! I hate LIV. I hope it goes away and I fully expect that it does. Going forward there may be a team element and you’re going to see whoever else play in some sort of team golf, but I don’t think it will look anything like LIV has looked and I think that’s a good thing.”

McIlroy notes that the PGA Tour remains in control of the new entity, whenever it is officially set up (the PGA Tour will have majority control of the new boardroom, with PIF’s Yasir Al-Rumayyan as chairman).

“Whether you like or not, the PIF are going to keep spending money in golf. At least the PGA Tour now controls how that money is spent. If you’re thinking about one of the biggest sovereign wealth funds in the world, would you rather have them as a partner or an enemy? At the end of the day, money talks, and you’d rather have them as a partner.”