Saudi investors 'create compensation fund to reward PGA loyalists'
Golf’s Saudi investors ‘are creating a compensation fund to reward players who stayed loyal to PGA Tour in battle with LIV’… with likes of Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods set for BIG payday
- Some PGA Tour players turned down millions when offered a place on LIV’s tour
- It has now been reported they will be given compensation by the Saudis’ PIF
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The PGA Tour players who stayed loyal and turned down lucrative offers from LIV are set to be rewarded by the very same people who tried to lure them away, according to reports.
The world of golf was thrown into chaos last week when it was announced that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund would be merging with the PGA Tour, bringing together two parties that had spent the last year at war.
While it is as yet unclear how the sport will look in the wake of the partnership, The Times reports that there are plans to reward the PGA Tour players who did not bow to the Saudi millions on offer to them.
The report claims that a ‘compensation fund’ is being created for the likes of Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm, which will hand them some of the money they missed out on by not joining the breakaway LIV Golf tour.
The plan will allow the likes of Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka and Lee Westwood – who did leave the PGA for LIV – to keep the money they were paid too, while also handing the PGA’s top players substantial cash to ‘level up’ their financial rewards.
Saudi Arabia’s PIF ‘will compensate PGA Tour loyalists who turned down a move to LIV Golf’
The likes of Jon Rahm (pictured) are in line for a huge payday after missing out on LIV’s cash
Specific figures have not yet been disclosed, and players are still in the dark as they gather at Los Angeles Country Club for this week’s US Open.
The future of LIV Golf is also in doubt, with sources close to The Times claiming that it will ‘be phased out by the end of this year’ to make room for one all-consuming tour with all players back under the same roof.
When speaking to the media last week, McIlroy was asked about the possibility of the loyal PGA Tour players being remunerated.
In response, he said: ‘The simple answer is yes. The complex answer is, how does that happen? That’s all a grey area and up in the air at the minute. It’s hard for me to not… feel somewhat like a sacrificial lamb.’
PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan is set to be the chief executive of golf’s new venture, with PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan – who is the chairman of the Premier League’s Newcastle United – chairing the operation.
It was revealed late on Tuesday that Monahan is stepping back from his current duties as he recovers from an unspecified ‘medical situation’, of which there are currently no further details.
The Tour commissioner, who has faced severe scrutiny after merging with Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, has temporarily handed over his responsibilities to chief operating officer Ron Price and executive vice president Tyler Dennis.
McIlroy had described himself as a ‘sacrificial lamb’ having been a defender of the PGA tour
PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan has stepped away from the under-pressure entity with an unspecified medical concern
While no details have been provided about the nature of the 53-year-old’s condition, the situation comes at a time when his position has been called into question by players on his tour.
A joint statement from Monahan and the Tour’s policy board read: ‘Jay Monahan informed the PGA TOUR Policy Board that he is recuperating from a medical situation.
‘The Board fully supports Jay and appreciates everyone respecting his privacy.
‘During Jay’s absence, Ron Price, Chief Operating Officer, and Tyler Dennis, Executive Vice President & President, PGA TOUR, will lead the day-to-day operations of the PGA TOUR with the assistance of the great team Jay has built, ensuring seamless continuity. We will provide further updates as appropriate.’
PGA AND LIV IN SHOCK MERGER
PGA Tour sensationally MERGES with rival LIV Golf in major win for the Saudis, gloating Trump, and the players who pocketed MILLIONS – as loyal PGA golfers are left to find out by LETTER
PGA commissioner Jay Monahan hails ‘momentous day’ in letter to Tour members after agreeing shock merger with rivals LIV Golf… as he insists the sport and its players will ‘benefit for years to come’
‘Rory is down so bad right now!’: Social media pokes fun at McIlroy for ‘turning down $300MILLION just to work for the Saudis for free for one year’ after shock announcement that the PGA tour and LIV Golf are MERGING
PGA Tour and LIV Golf merger: All the big questions – answered and unanswered – as players are left in the dark by the sport’s shock ‘unification’
They must be sick! How stunned PGA loyalists turned down MILLIONS to snub controversial LIV Golf breakaway, with Tiger Woods rejecting almost £700m and Rory McIlroy declining £400m
LIV Golf star Phil Mickelson delights in ‘awesome day’ after rebel circuit announces merger with traditional circuit – while the PGA Tour’s Jay Monahan is blasted
Brooks Koepka savages NBC and LIV Golf critic Brandel Chamblee after PGA and Saudi-backed series merger, asking for a ‘welfare check’ on analyst
PGA Tour sensationally MERGES with rival LIV Golf in major win for the Saudis, gloating Trump, and the players who pocketed MILLIONS – as loyal PGA golfers are left to find out by LETTER
OLIVER HOLT: A penny for the thoughts of some of the high-profile golfers who resisted the riches on offer from LIV because PGA chief Jay Monahan told them they owed it to the game not to defect
How LIV won golf’s bitter civil war: Saudi billions captured PGA’s biggest names before stunning deal was struck after rebels like Brooks Koepka and Phil Mickelson were pitted against Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods
Saudis BUY golf: Stunning deal sees LIV join forces with PGA and DP World Tours and pump in £1bn to help the new collaboration
The day golf changed for ever: Saudis bankroll shock deal with PGA and DP World Tours after toxic year as LIV rebels are welcomed back… with Amanda Staveley’s role proving key
LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman ‘NOT expected to have a role in the PGA Tour merger’ and the rebel series chief only found out MINUTES before the deal was announced
REVEALED: PGA Tour golfers ‘call for chief Jay Monahan to step down’ in ‘contentious’ players meeting after he kept McIlroy, Woods and Co. in the dark for seven weeks over shock LIV merger
Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy were kept in the dark about the secret deal to end golf’s civil war until the DAY it was announced, reveals Jay Monahan as pressure mounts on the PGA Tour chief after his U-turn
Grab the popcorn! Netflix’s ‘Full Swing’ was filming as the news broke of the PGA Tour’s shock merger with LIV Golf, confirms producer, with season 2 set to capture all the dramatic fallout
‘A good day to have a good day’: LIV Golf star Brooks Koepka’s wife Jena Sims revels in Saudi takeover of golf after her husband earned £100m+ by joining rebel tour before shock merger
Rory McIlroy ‘is told to “F*** OFF” by a fellow PGA Tour golfer during an explosive meeting’ hours after the bombshell merger with Saudi-backed LIV was announced
PICTURED: Rory McIlroy looks GLUM as he is seen for the first time since controversial PGA-LIV Golf merger, as the vocal critic of the Saudi-backed tour plays in the Pro AM in Canada
Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter and fellow rebels who left the World Tour ‘are still INELIGIBLE for the Ryder Cup’ despite PGA and LIV merger
LIV boss Greg Norman tells staff it’s business as usual despite bombshell merger with the PGA – after he was kept in the dark about end of the golf war that’s rumoured to have cost him his job
LIV stars backed the right horse and cashed in, Saudi Arabia has seized control, while Rory McIlroy’s loyalty has been for nothing… the winners and losers as golf’s bitter civil war ends with a shock merger
PGA Tour chief Jay Monahan ‘reveals it gave into shock LIV Golf merger as it couldn’t afford to keep fighting Saudi Arabian PIF’s unlimited money’
LIV Golf ‘WILL continue in 2024’ after PGA merger… despite Tour chief Jay Monahan saying he didn’t ‘see a scenario’ where the Saudi-backed series existed
LIV Golf rebel Martin Kaymer claims ‘hypocritical’ PGA Tour loyalists should play in Japan to avoid accepting ‘blood money’ following shock merger
LIV Golf and PGA Tour merger faces probe from Democrat Senator Richard Blumenthal because shock deal ‘raises concerns’ over Saudi PIF’s role
PGA Tour chief Jay Monahan wrote to Senators telling them that Congress left the traditional circuit ‘on our own’ just days before probe into controversial LIV merger
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