Does LIV Golf need to merge with the PGA Tour? Maybe they do. Does the PGA Tour need LIV Golf to sustain itself? Not! The PGA of America has always existed independently. The PGA Tour is closing in on 100 years, completing 96 years in 2025. Many other Tours have tried to dethrone it. Take the European Tour or DP World Tour, for example. Established in 1972, it has always been under the shadow of the PGA Tour. So, why do the owners believe their Saudi-based International Golf League has anything over it?

Jay Monahan & Co. have been quite patient with Public Invest Fund. They opened the doors for Yasir Al-Rumayyan and his team for a possible merger. Monahan also consulted the POTUS to guide the conversation to succession. “I could probably get it done,” said Donald Trump on the Let’s Go! podcast with Bill Belichick and Jim Gray in November last year. “I would say it would take me the better part of 15 minutes to get that deal done,” he added. Yet, after the generous offer, the PIF governor was apparently “gravely offended” by the $500 million proposal. Understandable up to an extent. After all, the PIF reportedly invested over $5 billion to get LIV Golf up and running for three years.

What Al-Rumayyan fails to understand is that LIV Golf is not profitable. Investing in the PIF-funded league will be a major PGA Tour loss. They are only acting upon the demands of the fans who want all the best golfers in the world under one roof again. But at what cost will that come?  Controversial analyst Jim Nantz believes the PGA Tour does not need LIV Golf at all. He joined Dan Patrick on the April 3, 2025, episode of the Dan Patrick Show. The host asked Nantz if he is “more concerned about the future of college basketball or the future of golf?” The expert quickly replied, “Not concerned about the future of golf. It (Golf) has been around for 500 years.”

Trying to dig deeper, Patrick simply asked, “But with LIV…” waiting for Nantz to complete the conversation. Still perplexed about where the host was going with it, the famed reporter asked, “What about it?” Dan Patrick clarified whether the merger is needed. Nantz seemed completely unbothered about it. He said, “I don’t know the answer to that. LIV, I think it’s in its fourth year. There hasn’t been a whole lot of change in the last year. If you’ve noticed the turnover has slowed down.” Seems like Jim Nantz doesn’t have much faith in what LIV Golf is doing.

Speaking in favor of the American Tour, Nantz added, “Meanwhile, the PGA Tour is developing a lot of great young players. Let’s take a guy like Ludvig Aberg, who might win next week, for example. I think the PGA Tour is doing just fine. And that’s not an indictment of LIV by any means.” Without throwing shade at LIV Golf, Nantz mentions how the PGA Tour is far superior to their Saudi-based rivals. Then why would Jay Monahan & Co. need to merge with the league funded by PIF?

There’s a group, 9/11 Families United, that has accused Jay Monahan and Co. for joining hands with them only for the money, calling him a “paid Saudi shill,” who is okay with the one-sided deal. To this, Monahan simply responded, saying, the decision for the golfers to join the new league is a morale one.  So, week in, week out, the PGA Tour has proven far more appealing to fans than LIV Golf. This shows in the viewership numbers both of them have produced recently. Let’s compare the same for a minute.

Jim Nantz’s comparison between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf

The 2025 season of LIV Golf was touted to be their biggest yet. With a partnership with Fox Sports for broadcast and a new CEO in Scott O’Neil, the PIF-funded league was expected to see a drastic uprise in viewership. However, they made a huge blunder with the nighttime schedule of LIV Golf Riyadh, which led to abysmal TV ratings. Yet, O’Neil failed to recognize the fault as he continued to claim that the season-opening event was hugely successful. The TV ratings eventually went back to what LIV Golf experienced in 2024, despite having far better broadcast exposure with CW

On the other end, the PGA Tour has faced a lot of criticism recently. Most of it has revolved around the dreadful pace of play that turned their tournaments into a snoozefest. Yet, the Tour has had promising TV ratings, returning to its former glory pre-2024. While the viewership drop in 2024 still has the experts confused, the fans are turning up to catch PGA Tour events in 2025 as frequently as they did in 2022 and 2023. With the PGA Tour racking up viewership in millions as compared to the thousands of LIV Golf, it seems like Jay Monahan & Co. don’t need to merge with their rivals to remain profitable, as Jim Nantz claimed.

What are your thoughts on the entire situation? Let us know in the comments section.