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LIV Golf and the PGA Tour may be merging, but don’t expect the players who took the Saudi money to get off scot-free.
Well, at least not completely.
Barstool Sports’ Dan Rapoport reported Tuesday that the players who joined the breakaway circuit will “definitely” be fined if they want to return to the PGA Tour.
The question is how much — and will it be anywhere close to the amount they received for defecting?
“I’m told the guys who took the LIV money and wanna return to the PGA Tour will definitely pay a fine,” Rapoport tweeted. “Won’t be equal for every player, either. Will that be enough to assuage guys who are pissed they turned down $100 million to stay loyal, only for the two to merge? Hmm….”
Over the last two years, the Saudi-backed rebel tour has poached many of the PGA Tour’s top players — including Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka, Cameron Smith, Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau — with large sums of cash and guaranteed payouts.
The PGA Tour acted swiftly against players who joined, suspending them indefinitely from all events, and the two sides have entered a civil war that has dominated the golf news cycle.
I’m told the guys who took the LIV money and wanna return to the PGA Tour will definitely pay a fine. Won’t be equal for every player, either. Will that be enough to assuage guys who are pissed they turned down $100 million to stay loyal, only for the two to merge? Hmm….
— Dan Rapaport (@Daniel_Rapaport) June 6, 2023
Both sides then continued to take shots at each other, both through the media and in the courts.
Now, the two entities have become one – and will be bankrolled by the Saudi Public Investment Fund.
So, the money the PGA Tour is punishing their former players for taking … will now be the money they will, in all likelihood, be paying those players.
And those who want to take that same money again will be fined.
That players-only meeting scheduled for 4 p.m. Tuesday on the grounds of the RBC Canadian Open ought to be interesting.
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