What Next For LIV Golf After PGA Tour/PIF Merger?

One of the major talking points after the huge recent merger news is about the future of LIV Golf - will it stay and thrive like Greg Norman says, or will it just go away like Rory McIlroy expects? 

Many LIV Golf players and fans have been celebrating what they call victory after the big merger news broke, but just before they go popping the champagne corks if you look a bit deeper it could be anything but a win.

Of course, the likes of Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau and Dustin Johnson have their huge bank balances to lean back on, but they could soon have to go back to the PGA Tour if LIV Golf disappears.

Jay Monahan had ominous words when he said he'd be conducting the review of LIV Golf and it's future, but didn't see it running alongside the PGA Tour when asked.

"I can't see that scenario," said Monahan. "But I haven’t gotten the full evaluation, the full empirical evaluation of LIV that I'm going to do to be able to comment on that. 

"But I don’t see that scenario, no."

So, will LIV Golf stay or go? Let's look at the cases for and against and what we know up to now..

The case for LIV Golf to continue

Firstly, as with almost everything in this entire saga, the money. Even for the Saudis there's a huge sum they've pumped into LIV Golf to get it up and running - and with next to no return as yet.

Shutting LIV down after this season would see them writing off all that cash - yes it's a drop in the ocean to the PIF and their seemingly endless wealth, but even they won't want to throw all that cash away.

Plus, in just a few events LIV Golf has established itself. Whether you're a fan or not there have been some big crowds and the event in Adelaide in particular was seen as a huge success.

That also saw big names in golf being taken to a part of the world that hasn't seen them all too often - in many ways it'd be a shame so see those go away.

Then there's Greg Norman - don't underestimate the desire of the Australian to keep this thing rolling after spending so much time and energy preaching to the world that the LIV Golf model was the future.

He's reportedly told his staff that: "Our business model will not change. We changed history and we're not going anywhere."

Norman has also said, as others have, that now LIV Golf is no longer at war with the PGA Tour that the door is open for big sponsors and TV networks to get more involved.

Lastly, there's the teams and their captains, who have a vested interest in keeping LIV going, with the business model always being to sell these teams off for huge profit.

If LIV goes away it's like admitting defeat, that LIV didn't work, and that it was all just a distraction and part of an ulterior motive.

Why LIV Golf will disappear

As chief executive officer of the new golfing entity, Monahan says he'll be conducting a review of LIV Golf and where it fits in the new golfing landscape.

"What is in place is a commitment to make a good-faith effort to look at team golf and the role it can play going forward," said Monahan - not exactly a glowing endorsement for LIV's future.

Rory McIlroy, perhaps the biggest casualty in all this, hates LIV, like he really hates LIV: "I hope it goes away. And I would fully expect that it does," he said during his epic press conference.

Although he was only briefed late in the day, to speak like that means he's surely been given assurances that LIV Golf won't be around much longer.

Monahan desperately needs to keep McIlroy on side, and one way to do that would be to make sure LIV gets the boot, so it's likely that it's already been decided and was part of the discussions with the PIF.

Other clues are out there. There's no mention of the merger on the LIV Golf website or social channels, and Norman hasn't said a word. 

From an organisation and a leader that's not exactly been shy about self-promotion it seems odd that they wouldn't be shouting from the rooftops if they had cast iron guarantees that their future was safe.

Then perhaps most tellingly was the fact that Norman was totally excluded from all the talks, and told just minutes before Monahan and PIF boss Yasir Al-Rumayyan appeared on TV to reveal the news.

You wonder what was going through his mind as he watched his boss and benefactor sat next to his fierce enemy smiling on TV announcing their new partnership.

And that leads onto the main point - the fact that Al-Rumayyan and the PIF will now be huge investors in the PGA Tour, they're not enemies anymore and they're not going to do anything to harm the organisation they now partly own.

That means not diluting their product by having LIV Golf tournaments running alongside or against the PGA Tour, no battles for hearts and minds of golf fans or sponsors.

It could mean LIV Golf has served its purpose. 

Who will have the final say over LIV Golf?

Here's the big one, as for all the talk from McIlroy, from Norman, from all the so-called fans and experts on Twitter, it'll be the two men who sat on CNBC to announce the deal that will have the final say.

Monahan as CEO and Al-Rumayyan as chairman of the new all-powerful golfing entity will decide what's best for LIV - or rather what's best for their new golf organisation.

It could well be that some form of team golf will be introduced on the new schedule, but from everything we know so far then it just looks highly unlikely that LIV as we know it will continue.

Maybe LIV events could be staged around the world as some form of 'growing the game' policy, but then there's the problem of when these can be held and who would take part - given most of the big LIV players will be back on the PGA Tour.

And that's another big question, just what exactly is in those bumper LIV contracts they signed, will they transfer to the new entity and those golfers who wanted to play less golf and spend more time with their families will now have to go back to "the grind" of the PGA Tour?

In all likelihood, LIV Golf's destiny has already been decided - no doubt it was one of the bargaining chips and along with dropping the legal proceedings one of the first things to be settled on.

Monahan may think he has control, but if he does, it's only because Al-Rumayyan has allowed him, and I think that's the real answer - as LIV Golf indeed could have served its purpose.

The Saudis always wanted a seat at the top table, I suspect if they'd been able to simply broker a sponsorship deal like this in the first place they'd have not turned to Norman or go down the LIV route.

It's always been about gaining a measure of control of the PGA Tour, that's the blue chip brand they craved and nothing we've seen so far suggests they'd hurt that brand by keeping a competing organisation going.

LIV Golf was a means to an end, a vehicle to help the PIF to get their feet comfortably in the door of professional golf, and the prestige that comes with it. And that ultimately means LIV Golf as we know will more than likely soon vanish almost as quickly as it appeared.