The anticipation has become reality as the PGA Tour and LIV Golf, the Saudi-backed golf tour, are on the brink of embarking on a new partnership agreement. Surprisingly, it was former President Donald Trump who seemed to foresee this development almost a year ago when he made a prescient prediction about the future relationship between the two factions.
On July 19, 2022, Trump took to his Truth Social platform to address the rivalry between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf. At the time, much of the public discourse centered around golfers like Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson, who had accepted lucrative offers to leave the PGA Tour and join LIV, despite concerns about Saudi Arabia’s human rights record.
In the midst of this controversy, Trump took aim at the PGA Tour while making a prediction that would prove to be eerily accurate. He foresaw an “inevitable MERGER” between the PGA and LIV, where golfers who remained loyal to the PGA would receive nothing for their allegiance. Donald Trump’s post read:
“All of those golfers that remain ‘loyal’ to the very disloyal PGA, in all of its different forms, will pay a big price when the inevitable MERGER with LIV comes, and you get nothing but a big ‘thank you’ from PGA officials who are making Millions of Dollars a year. If you don’t take the money now, you will get nothing after the merger takes place, and only say how smart the original signees were.”
In light of recent events, Trump’s words hold newfound significance.
News broke on Tuesday that the PGA Tour and LIV Golf have come to an agreement to drop their respective lawsuits and establish a new commercial venture together. It is worth noting that Trump has frequently hosted LIV Golf events at his properties, and he wasted no time in celebrating the development as “A BIG, BEAUTIFUL, AND GLAMOROUS DEAL FOR THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF GOLF.”
The realization of Trump’s prediction and the subsequent partnership between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf marks a significant moment in the golfing world. It underscores the changing dynamics and financial forces at play in the sport, as well as the potential for collaboration and growth across international boundaries.
