Post by mj3528 on Mar 27, 2024 9:41:55 GMT -5
Did anyone watch S2 of Full Swing?
I still don't understand how the PGA Tour and LIV are "merging", anyone want to explain this to me like I'm Ballz?
I liked the Ryder Cup eps a lot, it was cool to see the behind the scenes stuff and how much it means to the top players.
The first 2 episodes were great. I felt bad watching Joel Dahmen's episode as he seemed lost and it was sad. Last season his episode was fun. Keegan Bradley seemed like a great guy. I enjoyed the Tom Kim episode as I did not know much about him and he is a goofball.
As to the merger, the PGA Tour agreed to merge with PIF (The Saudi fund which runs LIV), because they could not compete with the money PIF had. The players that stayed wanted more money from the PGA Tour in response to LIV, and the Tour increased prize money, but it was not sustainable. The PGA Tour ran through a lot of cash to cover the increases, and sponsors were balking at paying more. Honda and Wells Fargo are already gone. The Tour was also paying an incredible amount of legal bills to defend the litigation brought by PIF and LIV that was not planned. The biggest impact of the agreement to merge was the litigation was dismissed immediately and won't be refiled.
PIF is run by a Saudi prince who really likes golf and wants to be part of the professional golf scene. Also, I don't think the Saudis end game is a merger and being an equal partner, but eventually it is a take over and they want to run professional golf. The PGA Tour never really wanted to merge, but felt it had no choice due to financial issues. It recently got $1.5 Billion in venture capital money from U.S. sports ownership companies, so they are not as pressed to merge and are dragging their feet.