In a stunning move, PGA Tour agrees to merge with its Saudi-backed rival, LIV Golf

The PGA Tour has agreed to merge with its rival, LIV Golf, a Saudi-backed league founded last year, to create one unified, global golf enterprise the PGA announced on Tuesday.

The merger, which has not yet been finalized, would end all pending litigation between the parties, mending a burgeoning split in men's professional golf that has remade the game in the last year.

In a deal that includes the DP World Tour, the three groups have agreed to create a "new, collectively owned, for-profit entity" that will deliver "maximum excitement and competition among the game's best players," PGA said, adding that the PGA will retain its not-for-profit, tax-exempt status.

The deal would establish the Saudi Sovereign Wealth Fund as the exclusive investor for new, yet-to-be-named company. PGA will hold a majority of board seats, with Yasir al-Rumayyan, the wealth fund's governor, serving as chairman.

Current PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan will step up as chief executive officer, according to the announcement on the deal.

"After two years of disruption and distraction, this is a historic day for the game we all know and love," Monahan said in a statement. "Going forward, fans can be confident that we will, collectively, deliver on the promise we've always made — to promote competition of the best in professional golf and that we are committed to securing and driving the game's future."

The surprise deal comes after months of mounting tensions

The feud between PGA and LIV began simmering last summer, when the Saudi-backed group started luring high-profile players, including Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson, away from the traditional tournaments with lucrative cash prizes and eye-popping contracts.

Just after the inaugural LIV tournament teed off in June, PGA issued sanctions against 17 players who defected to the new series, threatening to do the same to others who followed suit. Nine of the 17 players had preemptively resigned their PGA membership.

In August, 11 of those suspended players filed an anti-trust lawsuit against PGA, saying the organization was acting as a monopoly and harming their careers.

Critics of LIV called the new series a blatant use of "sportswashing" — a strategy countries such as China and Russia have used to remake their global reputation without changing their controversial stances on human rights.

One LIV tournament was hosted at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminister, N.J., which is not far from Ground Zero, the site where thousands perished on 9/11. Family members who lost loved ones in the tragedy protested both the golfers and Donald Trump for doing business with Saudi Arabia, pointing to evidence that the Saudi government may have knowingly assisted hijackers who caused the devastation.

This is a developing story; check back for updates.

NPR's Bill Chappell and Tom Goldman contributed reporting. [Copyright 2023 NPR]