PGA to merge with LIV

[Daryl David]

I can't wait until the Saudi Fund starts buying into the NFL...

I would assume that’s coming. Kind of like China buying up the NBA. It’s all about the money, baby.

[Carl Johnson]

Can someone tell me how the Tour is exactly structured?  I know there's a for profit part and a non-profit part, but I was under the impression that the Tour was created by its members to benefit its members, like a 501c(7) club.  If so, you'd think that major decisions, LIKE SELLING YOURSELF, would require the consent of the members, and not just some 51% of some "advisory  board" (or whatever it is).  If that doesn't require consent of the members, then I guess they're not "members" of anything, but just golfers. 

The PGA Tour, Inc. is exempt as a 501(c)(6), [trade association, etc.]  Here's a link to their most recent (2021) Annual Report IRS Form 990 available on the internet.  https://beta.candid.org/profile/7750944?keyword=PGA+Tour%2C+Inc.&action=Search [Click on Form 990]

Section 501(c)(6): "Business leagues, chambers of commerce, real-estate boards, boards of trade, or professional football leagues (whether or not administering a pension fund for football players), not organized for profit and no part of the net earnings of which inures to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual."

Link to IRS internal instruction paper on 501(c)(6) for more detail: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-tege/eotopick03.pdf

Here's the IRS regulation, which doesn't really add anything to the above: https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-26/chapter-I/subchapter-A/part-1/subject-group-ECFR062882ac6495890/section-1.501(c)(6)-1]

I could not quickly find their internal governing documents, but a more diligent searcher might turn them up.

[Ken Moum]

I am not a betting man. If I were to place a bet it would be for the merger to go thru. The Senate dog and pony show will achieve nothing... as usual.

The Tour was caught asleep by poor leadership.

There shouldn't be a 501-3c exemption for the Tour.

Ciao

The Tour is a 501(c)(6) Listing $4.5 BILLION in assets, which is why PIF, with $1 billion in cash is a minority investor.
[/size]
[/size]https://beta.candid.org/profile/7750944?keyword=PGA+Tour&action=Search

[David Cronan]

https://www.golfdigest.com/story/pga-tour-tiger-woods-leadership-2023


Interesting development with Woods joining the PGA Tour Policy Board. This move now makes him the 6th Player Director, joining McIlroy, Cantlay, Webb Simpson, Peter Malnati and Charlie Hoffman.


Good to see him taking an active role in the Tour and its future. At the urging of 41 Tour players, including Justin Thomas, John Rahm, McIlroy, Scheffler and Woods who sent a letter to Commissioner Monahan for certain steps to be taken immediately with respect to the tour's governance, including appointing Woods to the board.


This is interesting and the deal appears to be far from a fait accompli.

[Rob Marshall]

First move should be banning Phil for life since no one at LIV wants to go back to the PGA Tour.

[Pat Burke]

https://www.golfdigest.com/story/pga-tour-tiger-woods-leadership-2023


Interesting development with Woods joining the PGA Tour Policy Board. This move now makes him the 6th Player Director, joining McIlroy, Cantlay, Webb Simpson, Peter Malnati and Charlie Hoffman.


Good to see him taking an active role in the Tour and its future. At the urging of 41 Tour players, including Justin Thomas, John Rahm, McIlroy, Scheffler and Woods who sent a letter to Commissioner Monahan for certain steps to be taken immediately with respect to the tour's governance, including appointing Woods to the board.


This is interesting and the deal appears to be far from a fait accompli.

I’m curious how the board makeup changed to add a player.
Seems a big deal that the structure of the policy board was suddenly changed?  Not saying it’s good or bad, but seems like this should have been a pretty big deal that the players (voting members) had a hand in?

[David Cronan]

https://www.golfdigest.com/story/pga-tour-tiger-woods-leadership-2023


Interesting development with Woods joining the PGA Tour Policy Board. This move now makes him the 6th Player Director, joining McIlroy, Cantlay, Webb Simpson, Peter Malnati and Charlie Hoffman.


Good to see him taking an active role in the Tour and its future. At the urging of 41 Tour players, including Justin Thomas, John Rahm, McIlroy, Scheffler and Woods who sent a letter to Commissioner Monahan for certain steps to be taken immediately with respect to the tour's governance, including appointing Woods to the board.


This is interesting and the deal appears to be far from a fait accompli.

I’m curious how the board makeup changed to add a player.
Seems a big deal that the structure of the policy board was suddenly changed?  Not saying it’s good or bad, but seems like this should have been a pretty big deal that the players (voting members) had a hand in?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2023/08/01/tiger-woods-pga-tour-players-letter/


Pat,


It appears that the aforementioned letter, signed by 41 PGA Tour players (which included Woods and the 5 Player Directors) prompted Monahan et al to make the very quick decision of adding Woods to the Board, thus tilting the "power" of the Board in favor of the players, which, of course, gives the players much greater control of their and the Tour's destiny.

[Steve_ Shaffer]

Tiger Woods vs. Phil Mickelson Is on Again, With LIV Golf's Existence at Stake

By taking a spot on the PGA Tour Policy Board, Woods has a chance to beat his longtime rival one last time with golf's future on the line.

Read more:


Tiger Woods vs. Phil Mickelson Is on Again, With LIV Golf's Existence at Stake - Sports Illustrated Golf: News, Scores, Equipment, Instruction, Travel, Courses

[Wayne_Kozun]

It appears that the board composition is now 6 players, 5 "independents" and the PGA of America rep.  But one of the independents is vacant as Randall Stephenson has resigned.


The Board should call an emergency meeting and have a vote of confidence on Monahan.  The players currently have a clear majority now - it will be 50-50 in the future, depending on how the PGA rep votes.

[Rob Marshall]

Tiger Woods vs. Phil Mickelson Is on Again, With LIV Golf's Existence at Stake

By taking a spot on the PGA Tour Policy Board, Woods has a chance to beat his longtime rival one last time with golf's future on the line.

Read more:


Tiger Woods vs. Phil Mickelson Is on Again, With LIV Golf's Existence at Stake - Sports Illustrated Golf: News, Scores, Equipment, Instruction, Travel, Courses

Phil wasn't a rival of Tiger's. He was basically Tiger's *****.

[Anthony Butler]

It appears that the board composition is now 6 players, 5 "independents" and the PGA of America rep.  But one of the independents is vacant as Randall Stephenson has resigned.


The Board should call an emergency meeting and have a vote of confidence on Monahan.  The players currently have a clear majority now - it will be 50-50 in the future, depending on how the PGA rep votes.

I thought the players approached Monahan and demanded that the third-party board seat previously occupied by former AT&T CEO Stephenson be given to Woods. So that 'seat' is now taken.. by a PGA Tour Member.


My take-away was this was a concession by Monahan to prevent a no-confidence vote being taken, which even if it was not successful, would considerably have weakened his power.

[Erik J. Barzeski]

It appears that the aforementioned letter, signed by 41 PGA Tour players (which included Woods and the 5 Player Directors) prompted Monahan et al to make the very quick decision of adding Woods to the Board, thus tilting the "power" of the Board in favor of the players, which, of course, gives the players much greater control of their and the Tour's destiny.

They knew they were adding a player director many months ago. I remember reading stories about it. When I heard it was Tiger Woods, I remember thinking "oh, that's who they added," not "oh, they added another player?" Because they were planning to add another player for quite some time already. Perhaps since that meeting or shortly after that meeting.

Cantlay was #5, IIRC, out of ten. Previously the players were down 5 to 4.

Also, it's not like it's adversarial. The advisors advise… and they're on the players side, too. They understand the business side more than the players do, so it's a communication thing. It's not adversarial like many seem to think.

[David Cronan]

It appears that the aforementioned letter, signed by 41 PGA Tour players (which included Woods and the 5 Player Directors) prompted Monahan et al to make the very quick decision of adding Woods to the Board, thus tilting the "power" of the Board in favor of the players, which, of course, gives the players much greater control of their and the Tour's destiny.

They knew they were adding a player director many months ago. I remember reading stories about it. When I heard it was Tiger Woods, I remember thinking "oh, that's who they added," not "oh, they added another player?" Because they were planning to add another player for quite some time already. Perhaps since that meeting or shortly after that meeting.

Cantlay was #5, IIRC, out of ten. Previously the players were down 5 to 4.

Also, it's not like it's adversarial. The advisors advise… and they're on the players side, too. They understand the business side more than the players do, so it's a communication thing. It's not adversarial like many seem to think.

https://www.foxnews.com/sports/patrick-cantlay-picked-as-additional-player-added-to-pga-tour-board


According to this published article from March 2022, Cantlay was picked as the 5th player director. After this took place, Webb Simpson and Peter Malnati replaced Kevin Kisner and James Hahn, as they rotated off.


I've done a pretty deep dive and have found nothing about a 6th player director being mentioned, until this week following the letter sent to Monahan on Monday requesting that Woods be named as the 6th player director. I'm sure it had been in the works for a bit but I can find nothing, anywhere about expanding the number of player directors. If you find it somewhere Erik, I'd enjoy reading it.


Thanks in advance.

[Craig Sweet]

SAUDI ARABIA IS CUTTING OIL PRODUCTION.

[Daryl David]

SAUDI ARABIA IS CUTTING OIL PRODUCTION.

And the point is?

[Craig Sweet]

Daryl, figure it out.  I'll give you a clue...it involves blood sucking killers and your pocketbook.

[Kalen Braley]

The OWGR rejected the application from Saudi-backed LIV Golf, first submitted in July 2022 after the league already had played two of its 54-hole, no-cut events.

https://www.espn.com/golf/story/_/id/38625044/liv-golf-bid-world-ranking-points-denied-owgr-board

[Erik J. Barzeski]

According to this published article from March 2022, Cantlay was picked as the 5th player director. After this took place, Webb Simpson and Peter Malnati replaced Kevin Kisner and James Hahn, as they rotated off.

I've done a pretty deep dive and have found nothing about a 6th player director being mentioned, until this week following the letter sent to Monahan on Monday requesting that Woods be named as the 6th player director. I'm sure it had been in the works for a bit but I can find nothing, anywhere about expanding the number of player directors. If you find it somewhere Erik, I'd enjoy reading it.

Thanks in advance.

I'll try to find it at some point. IIRC (and maybe I'm not), I am not saying they were going to name Woods. I just remember (I think) reading that the players were going to have a majority, and that was planned or known, well before Woods joined.

But maybe I didn't realize that someone (like Cantlay) was going to be replacing someone who was going to fall off.

[Cliff Hamm]

Does the situation in the Middle East effect anything about LIV?

[Tim Martin]

There are rumors swirling that Jon Rahm will go to LIV with the reputed signing bonus at a cool $600 million. Without any judgement on the possible defection and if I’m a bettor I think he goes. That’s a lot of zeros after the 6.

[David Cronan]

One of the selling points of LIV is the creation of 4 man teams, but outside of the participants/members, does anyone care? Getting jazzed about a Ryder Cup every other year is one thing, but I don't see that working with the LIV format.


On a different note, Woods has some opinions that he shared during his press conference yesterday:


https://www.wsj.com/sports/golf/tiger-woods-liv-golf-pga-tour-merger-saudi-arabia-7d4cefa1

[Ben Hollerbach]

There are rumors swirling that Jon Rahm will go to LIV with the reputed signing bonus at a cool $600 million. Without any judgement on the possible defection and if I’m a bettor I think he goes. That’s a lot of zeros after the 6.

WSJ is reporting that Rahm will be leaving for LIV

[Mike Bodo]

There are rumors swirling that Jon Rahm will go to LIV with the reputed signing bonus at a cool $600 million. Without any judgement on the possible defection and if I’m a bettor I think he goes. That’s a lot of zeros after the 6.

WSJ is reporting that Rahm will be leaving for LIV

That's a signing many LIV fans and followers (myself included) have been waiting to be confirmed. Rumor has it that Finau, Cantlay and Schauffele aren't far behind. The OWGR is going to have to find a away to award LIV golfers points or find themselves irrelevant, as the majors are going to want the best players in the world at their events regardless of tour or league affiliation - OWGR points be damned.

[Erik J. Barzeski]

WSJ is reporting that Rahm will be leaving for LIV

"A deal for Rahm is expected to be announced this week, people familiar with the matter said, assuming talks don’t fall apart."

The OWGR is going to have to find a away to award LIV golfers points or find themselves irrelevant, as the majors are going to want the best players in the world at their events regardless of tour or league affiliation - OWGR points be damned.

The OWGR IS the majors and the Tours. They're on the board. They make the determinations. Especially when the PGA Tour and DPWT recused themselves from the recent decision.

Chairman - Peter Dawson CBE
Augusta National Golf Club - Will Jones, Executive Director
PGA European Tour - Keith Pelley, Chief Executive
PGA of America - Seth Waugh, Chief Executive Officer
PGA Tour - Jay Monahan, Commissioner
The R&A - Martin Slumbers, Chief Executive
USGA - Mike Whan, Chief Executive Officer
International Federation of PGA Tours - Keith Waters

[Rob Marshall]

There are rumors swirling that Jon Rahm will go to LIV with the reputed signing bonus at a cool $600 million. Without any judgement on the possible defection and if I’m a bettor I think he goes. That’s a lot of zeros after the 6.

WSJ is reporting that Rahm will be leaving for LIV

That's a signing many LIV fans and followers (myself included) have been waiting to be confirmed. Rumor has it that Finau, Cantlay and Schauffele aren't far behind. The OWGR is going to have to find a away to award LIV golfers points or find themselves irrelevant, as the majors are going to want the best players in the world at their events regardless of tour or league affiliation - OWGR points be damned.

If Rahm goes at this stage of the game it's a big FU to everyone on the tour. Now all of sudden he wants or needs the money? They can have Cantlay. Big question would be why is Cantlay on the policy board if he's going..............Seems like a little bit of a conflict.............