PGA and LIV MERGE!! Here's our rundown

GM. This is Easy Pars. The golf newsletter that we really don’t have time for an intro — The PGA and LIV Golf leagues have MERGED!!!

Here’s what we’ve got for you today:

• Trump predicted it

• Rory hates it

• Greg Norman hates it, too?

• Phil is just happy to be here

Let’s get into it with a brief rundown of the most exciting news in sports:

We certainly didn't see this one coming

This was not something we thought would happen. (Someone did, but more on that in a minute.)

You know with a big legal case going against one another (and the animosity that it tends to generate). The last thing you’d expect is for something like this to happen.

What happened you ask?

The PGA Tour and LIV Golf are becoming one.

More specifically, the PIF (the parent company for LIV Golf), the DP World Tour, and the PGA Tour are merging into one BIG for-profit corporation.

Yes, you better believe it. It’s happening.

But what does this mean?

• Is everything going to be like LIV, or will everything go back to the PGA Tour standards?

• Will Phil Mickelson and Rory McIlroy be playing side by side again?

• Or, a common theory — will LIV go away entirely?

All we know is that the three entities will “work together in good faith” so that the players who choose to can re-apply for the PGA Tour membership next season.

There are way too many questions right now and not a lot (actually no) official answers.

If we’re shocked, imagine how all the PGA Tour players feel.

Especially those who said no to the big check that LIV waved in front of them last year.

Those checks had a lot of zeros in them, just saying.

Do you know who saw this coming?

Not to get political here, but former president Donald Trump saw this one coming.

As he does about a lot of things, he posted about it back in mid-July 2022.

And he just about called it play-by-play. Did he have any insider information since his country clubs host LIV events?

Who knows. Nonetheless, he was right about the whole deal.

Things just got really awkward for Rory McIlroy

Poor Rory McIlroy.

Recently, Rory’s life has revolved around two things — Trying to win tournaments and trying to tell everyone how much better the PGA Tour is than LIV.

This must be truly awkward.

Just check out the video in this tweet.

Poor guy, like there’s no way out of this mess for him.

What was he supposed to say? “I was wrong the whole time, LIV is actually wonderful!”

I mean, just take a look at his statement. He’s clearly in agony. After the interview, we was asked if he’d ever play with Phil again. Here’s a look at his answer:

Once again, poor Rory was put in a really bad spot and clearly didn’t even know what was going to hit him.

Greg also saw this one coming, probably got fired, but is also (probably) really ok with it.

Don’t go crying for Greg Norman just yet.

Over several interviews, Norman would mention that Golf would be “unified”. With all the leagues finding their own space in the golf world.

Did he know that the PIF’s goal was to eventually take over the PGA Tour?

Dunno.

All we know is that according to PIF press statements, he was notified a few minutes before the merger happened.

Implying that he wasn’t aware of the deal that was going on.

Also unbeknownst to him, is that he wouldn't be part of the new PGA Tour/LIV/DP World tour corporation.

Sure, he might’ve gotten sacked as the LIV CEO.

But keep in mind that when CEOs get laid off, they always get a very generous compensation package.

Greg Norman will almost certainly be fine.

What about Phil?

Isn’t it ironic, don't you think?

It’s like rain on your wedding day.

Or like the company who you’ve been engaging in back and forth Twitter battles suddenly gets taken over by your company.

Definitely, a little bit too ironic.

Whatever the case, Phil seems to be happy about it.

And to his credit, he could’ve tweeted something along the lines of “Ha! Told you so!”.

But he demonstrated great restraint, and simply tweeted “Awesome day today.” Which could’ve been for a multitude of reasons.

Does this mean that all professional golf belongs to the same corporation?

We don’t know how to answer that.

And it seems like the US Department of Justice doesn't know either.

But they’ll be looking into it, IYKWIM.

Are there any antitrust issues due to the deal?

Since the details of the deal aren’t out yet, it’s too soon to tell.

But the DoJ will definitely be leading some sort of investigation, as it will be without a doubt, one of the biggest deals in professional sports history.

Meme of the Day

😂😂

Dropped a lot today! Hope you enjoyed. We’ll be back Monday with another look at this huge development!

Later gator,

E.