DOJ Investigating PGA Tour-LIV Golf Merger: Report

The U.S. Department of Justice is reportedly investigating the PGA Tour’s planned merger with the Saudi backers of LIV Golf over antitrust concerns, putting the tentative deal further in the legal rough.

Just days after a Senate subcommittee launched its own probe of the merger, the DOJ informed the PGA Tour of its inquiry, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, citing anonymous sources familiar with the matter.

Democratic lawmakers had also asked the DOJ for an antitrust review.

The inquiry adds more uncertainty to the deal, which would mend a sports schism between the established PGA Tour and the upstart LIV Golf, which started play just over a year ago.

A senior PGA Tour executive told employees this week that the fate of the massive merger proposal likely won’t be known for at least a year, a person familiar with the comments told the Journal. 

The official reportedly added that it’s possible that the deal could fall apart altogether if the parties can’t come together on specific terms. The current framework constitutes only an agreement that the two sides would drop legal action against each other and unite as one entity, with the PGA Tour controlling the board.

A reported DOJ antitrust probe is the latest hurdle for a proposed merger between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf.Eakin Howard/Getty; Jamie Squire/LIV Golf/via Getty

In a statement issued Thursday, however, the PGA Tour voiced optimism that the deal would get done.

“We are confident that once all stakeholders learn more about how the PGA Tour will lead this new venture, they will understand how it benefits our players, fans, and sport while protecting the American institution of golf,” the statement read.

Since launching, LIV Golf had lured away a number of top golfers from the PGA Tour, as the two sides traded lawsuits.

Beyond antitrust concerns, both the merger and LIV Golf as an entity have drawn intense scrutiny for their Saudi ties. LIV Golf is owned and bankrolled by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, with billions of dollars in backing.

Critics, including the Democratic senators who requested a DOJ investigation, have called LIV Golf an attempt at “sportswashing” to distract from a record of human rights violations and alleged ties to the 9/11 terror attacks.

Saudi Arabia has long denied links to the 9/11 hijackers, 15 of whom were Saudi nationals.