- The deal between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf announced last week stunned the golf world.
- Reports in the days since have indicated the sides negotiated for just weeks before coming to a deal.
The PGA Tour and Saudi-backed LIV Golf shocked and enraged many in the golf world with the announcement of an unexpected merger deal week.
Reports in the days since indicate the fast-paced world of Formula 1 racing may have played an unexpected role in helping the deal come together.
Reports from The Athletic revealed that PGA Commissioner Jay Monahan and the governor of the Saudi Public Investment Fund Yasir Al-Rumayyan spoke for one of the first times in person in Venice, Italy. Prior to that meeting, PGA representatives met with Al-Rumayyan and other LIV executives to gauge the possibility that the two organizations could come to an agreement and end the conflict that took over the golf world, The Athletic and the New York Times reported.
After the PGA executives recommended Monahan meet with Al-Rumayyan, their first meeting in Venice led to weeks of negotiations in London, New York, and San Francisco, which culminated in the deal announced in June, according to The New York Times.
Al-Rumayyan, who is also chairman of the oil company Saudi Aramco, was set to be in Venice in the middle of May for a wedding, the Times reported. That wedding happened to be the F1-related wedding of the daughter of Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll, who owns the Aston Martin F1 team, in which Al-Rumayyan's Saudi Aramco is also a key investor.
Possibly because of its distance from any golf-related people or events, Venice was chosen as the first place for the two to meet, so Monahan met with Al-Rumayyan before the wedding took place, according to the Times. People close to the meetings told the Times the Venice talks were some of the most important in sparking more negotiations.
Neither LIV nor PGA immediately responded to Insider's request for additional comment.
The weeks of negotiations led to a tentative agreement that could end lawsuits that Monahan reportedly told employees after the deal was announced could have ended up costing the PGA hundreds of millions in legal fees.