Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
In stunning fashion, the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and LIV Golf have decided to merge into one entity, leaving the golf world floored.
Tuesday morning, people woke to arguably the biggest news to shake up golf in the sport’s history. It was as jarring and shocking as it was surprising. The PGA Tour announced a merger with LIV Golf, alongside the DP World Tour.
For people on the west coast, many likely had not even had a chance to make some coffee and enjoy the morning before their jaws hit the floor.
When the news dropped, some wanted to know if this was a delayed April’s Fool Day joke. Others are saying I told you so. The reactions are pure gold because no one expected this merger to happen.
Today marks a historic day in professional golf, and after all the back-and-forth discussion about LIV and the PGA Tour — now they’re together.
Even by the PGA Tour’s standards, these are undiscovered depths of hypocrisy.
— Will Bardwell (@willbardwell) June 6, 2023
Truly gobsmacked today.
Of the 10,000 different outcomes, this was never talked about, never discussed, never even floated. Everyone who would have known was at the PGA two weeks ago, and nobody even came close to hinting at it!
— Kyle Porter (@KylePorterCBS) June 6, 2023
CBS Sport’s Kyle Porter isn’t wrong in his reaction because of how things went at the PGA Championship. When Brooks Koepka won, the discussion surrounding whether or not he should play on the Ryder Cup team held a death grip on golf news for over a week.
This reaction is how the golf world has to feel after this bombshell dropped. No one could see it coming, and now it’s a done deal. Regardless of what side anyone is on, this is a historic day in golf. This merger topic will be what fans and media people react to for the rest of the summer.
How will those who defended the PGA Tour react to this news? Will this merger cause even more drama between golf media and those associated with LIV Golf, or will this be a smooth transition?
One thing is clear — people will remember where they were when LIV Golf and the PGA Tour merged together as one.
