'A beautiful, glamorous deal': Trump celebrates LIV Golf, PGA Tour merger

In a titanic shock to the golf world, the upstart Saudi-financed league LIV Golf is merging with the decades-old PGA Tour, the organizations announced Tuesday, bringing years of bitter legal fights between the rival groups to an end.

The deal also involves the DP World Tour, also known as the PGA European Tour.

Despite its storied history, PGA Tour has chafed at the competition posed by the two-year-old LIV Golf tour, which has poached some top players and developed ties with a number of prominent political figures, most notably former President Donald Trump. The league held events at his golf clubs, including a recent one in May that the former president attended, intertwining its brand with the Trump business.

In wake of the announcement, Trump posted on Truth Social celebrating the deal.

"A BIG, BEAUTIFUL, AND GLAMOUROUS DEAL FOR THE WORLD OF GOLF, CONGRATS TO ALL!!!" Trump wrote. He had predicted such a deal on Truth Social about a year ago, amid his own business dealings with LIV.

Trump is not alone in his connections to LIV Golf. The league will host an event in August at The Greenbrier, a resort owned by the West Virginia governor — and current Senate candidate — Jim Justice.

The organizations will form a new entity, with a name still being determined, according to the statement, to “implement a plan to grow these combined commercial businesses, drive greater fan engagement and accelerate growth initiatives already underway." The agreement is not yet final, as the terms continue to be worked out.

“After two years of disruption and distraction, this is a historic day for the game we all know and love,” said PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan in a statement.

The deal is almost certain to raise significant antitrust concerns, and the Justice Department’s antitrust division is monitoring the situation, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.

PGA Tour and LIV have been embroiled in the litigation for the past year, with LIV accusing the PGA Tour of blocking its golfers from participating in the new tour, in violation of U.S. antitrust law. The PGA Tour countersued, saying LIV was interfering with its contracts with golfers.

The dispute caught the attention of the DOJ, which has been investigating whether the PGA Tour is illegally trying to kneecap a key rival, according to the person. Now that the two are merging, the DOJ may want to investigate that as well. The DOJ declined to comment.

“My minimum expectation is that the DOJ would examine the merger,” said Bill Kovacic, a law professor at George Washington University and former chair of the Federal Trade Commission.

“If you have the sequence of the disruptive entrant, followed by stiff resistant from the incumbent and then the absorption by the incumbent of the new entrant, you will almost invariably have scrutiny by the authorities,” he said, adding that the existing investigation increases the likelihood that the DOJ will investigate the merger.

On CNBC, Monahan played down the possibility of antitrust issues. “Every single player in men's professional golf is going to have more opportunity and more growth,” he said. “As we look to contribute to the women's game, I would expect the same, and as an industry, we're going to grow our industry, so I think this is all a positive on that front.”

Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of Public Investment Fund, the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia that finances LIV, said in the statement they are “proud to partner with the PGA TOUR to leverage PIF’s unparalleled success and track record of unlocking value and bringing innovation and global best practices to business and sectors worldwide."

LIV Golf’s reputation has faced withering criticism from human rights activists, 9/11 families and lawmakers from both parties for its ties to the Saudi royal family.

Brett Eagleson, 9/11 Justice president, expressed shock at the news, comparing it to a “gut punch.” He said it was back to the drawing board for his group, which had been protesting LIV Golf for its Saudi funding, but that 9/11 Justice’s work would continue.

“This is such a stain on the PGA,” he said. “Money now trumps morality and murder.”

White House national security spokesperson John Kirby declined to comment on the merger, telling reporters Tuesday he'll "let the Saudi government speak to that."

Lawmakers expressed mixed reactions to the surprise merger. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) recalled a previous conversation with PGA Tour officials, in which he was allegedly told that the country's human rights records "should disqualify them" from having a stake in a major American sport.

Last week, GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy fired one of the firms consulting for his campaign after it was revealed that the firm had simultaneously been doing public relations work for LIV Golf.