Jon Rahm’s Exit, PGA Tour-PIF Merger, and LIV Golf Expansion; Where Does LPGA & LET Find A Footing Amid These Tensions

Jon Rahm shocked everyone by pledging allegiance to LIV Golf just months after “officially declaring” his “fealty to the PGA Tour.” While much has been said about Rahm’s lack of integrity, Jay Monahan’s dumb trick, and Yasir Al-Rumayyan’s chicanery, its effect on the other side of the pro-golf world, i.e., the LPGA Tour and LET, is unpalpable. Asked about what she thinks of Rahm’s move, the Irish Solheim Cupper, Leona Maguire, nonchalantly said, “I really don’t care.”

The 29-year-old was teeing off at the Grant Thornton Invitational, the first PGAT and LPGA Tour co-sanctioned event in 24 years, some 1100 miles away from New York, where the Spaniard divulged the reasons behind his recreancy. The defending Masters champion wanted to grow the game of golf. An ‘imminent’ $3B merger—as long as you trust the words of a certain Tour Policy Board member and the ‘firm’ commitment of a not-so-seasoned negotiator—provided the opportune moment for Rahm to grow the game together.

Some believe more mixed-gender events are a better way to grow the game than legitimizing professional greed with an obscene amount of money. But some are not all. The LPGA Tour and LET have been locked in their own merger talks, meanwhile. While the latter has attracted a vestigial sum of Saudi money in sponsorships, LIV Golf is yet to show any indication of employing women in their ground-breaking product operation.

PIF’s interest in the LPGA Tour and LET

LIV Golf, for all its’revolutionary’ approach that its apostles carry the banner for, has shown very little interest in signing any female golfers or opening a female wing. Greg Norman was willing to entertain the possibility of LIV Golf Women once. However, the great white shark has one too many irons in the fire—he needs to offer his latest marquee, signing a team of his own.

Some female pros would like to consider the option, though. 2010 U.S. Open Champion Paula Creamer, at least, would look into the offer, judge its merit, and then decide. “It’s definitely something I would look at… You have to weigh your options with everything these days,” AP quoted the 37-year-old as saying. Many analysts have pointed out that other LPGA pros would perhaps reject the offer considering the murky hand that pays them the dough.

However, Saudi Aramco, of which PIF Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan is the chairman, has funded as many as six events in the LET already. Ace golfers like Lilia Vu, Charley Hull, Carlota Ciganda, Allison Lee, and Minjee Lee traveled to the Gulf nation for the Saudi Aramco Team Series two months ago.

Moreover, the Aramco Saudi Ladies International, which Lydia Ko won in February, had the highest purse size in the LET: $5,000,000. It might seem like a paltry sum compared to the $4 million that winners at any LIV Golf event get for their hard work. But except for the Majors and the CME Group Tour Championship, no individual event on the female circuit offers more money.

So, if LIV Golf Women happens, it would be a direct competitor to LET and the LPGA Tour. However, some backchannel maneuvers might prevent it from spilling out into a full-frontal war, as PIF is already invested in LET. But PIF’s interest in women golfers will definitely skyrocket the ‘valuation’ of both the tours and their employees.

Notably, both tours are also part of a strategic alliance signed in 2019. Currently, the two tours run the events with equal share. The pact has been immensely beneficial for the European side, as their purse size increased to £30 million from £19 million four years ago. The merger proposal was based on the pact’s success.

The second merger that no one paid attention to

At the CME Group Tour Championship, LPGA Commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan announced that the LET pros would vote for the merger on November 21. To pass, it needed the approval of 60% of stakeholders. For the first three years, the two tours would maintain the status quo. LET would have its headquarters in Europe. The LPGA Tour, in the meantime, wanted to look for more sponsorship opportunities.

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Surprisingly, LET postponed the vote due to some additional information changing the scenario. Although it didn’t detail what key issues suddenly arose, it put all the negotiations to a grinding halt. Marcoux Samaan, however, said she was still enthusiastic about the prospect of bringing both tours under one umbrella.

At the end of 2023, the female circuits on both sides of the Atlantic will stand at a crucial juncture. A merger of the two most prominent entities in the golf world would bolster the rampart if an existential threat arises in the near future. On the other hand, a collapse can create a breach that allows PIF to leave its footprints on another bastion in the sports world.

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