PGA Tour, LIV Golf, DP World Tour merger – more questions than answers | Golf Today | Golf Channel

LOS ANGELES, JAIME DIAZ WHO HAS BEEN WITH US ON THE SHOW AND LET’S WELCOME IN REX HAGGERT FOR THE FIRST TIME. REX, YOUR REACTION TO THE NEWS THAT SHOCKED THE GOLF WORLD TODAY? >> GEORGE, YOU’RE RIGHT. AT 9:30 THIS MORNING I WAS INFORMED AND YOU GET THE IDEA OF HOW THIS WAS MOVING ALONG AND THIS WAS AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL OF THE PGA TOUR AS WELL AS LIV GOLF AND AS IT APPLIES TO THE PLAYERS I HEARD FROM A LOT OF PLAYERS TODAY, AND I THINK IT WAS A MIXTURE OF ANGER AND CONFUSION AND SHOCK

AND A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS KEPT COMING UP. ONE, WHY DID WE END UP HERE WAS THE QUESTION THAT I GOTAND IT WAS A MATTER OF THE PGA TOUR REALIZING THIS WAS A FIGHT THAT THEY PROBABLY COULDN’T WIN IN THE LONG TERM AND THEY HAD SOMETHING TO DO WITH THE LAWSUIT WITH THE DISTRICT COURT AND NORTHERN CALIFORNIA AND THE COMMISSIONER AND SENIOR STAFF ARE GOING TO SEE THIS AFTERNOON WHEN THEY HAD THE PLAYER MEETING AND THE OTHER QUESTION I GOT FROM PGA TOUR PLAYERS IS WHAT DOES THIS MEAN GOING FORWARD? HOW ARE THE TWO ENTITIES GOING

TO FIT TOGETHER TO CREATE THIS NEW BODY? THERE ARE SO MANY MORE QUESTIONS THAN WE HAVE ANSWERS AND THE

OTHER SIDE OF THE COIN WAS MORE FASCINATING TO ME. I SPOKE WITH A COUPLE OF LIV PLAYERS AND IF YOU CAN BELIEVE, THEY DON’T HAVE DETAILS THAN THE PGA TOUR PLAYERS HAVE. THEY HAVE FEWER DETAILS THAN THE LIV PLAYERS HAVE. I HAD PRAYED FOR THE DAY THIS WOULD HAPPEN AND THIS IS THE DAY THAT THE TWO ENTITIES CAN COME TOGETHER AND BROADER, WHAT DOES IT MEAN AS FAR AS THOSE GOING BACK AND THERE IS A UNIVERSE

THAT THEY WOULD LOVE TO COME BACK AND NOT JUST THE PGA TOUR AND ALSO THE DP WORLD TOUR, BUT THEY BOTH ALSO POINTED OUT THERE ARE SERIOUSLY HURT FEELINGS THAT ON THAT SIDE THEY HAVE BEEN DEMONIZED FOR THE BETTER PART OF A YEAR, JOINING THE TOUR, CHASING THE MONEY AND WHATEVER THE CONVERSATION WAS AND THEY FEEL LIKE THEY DESERVE AT THE VERY LEAST SOME SORT OF APOLOGY. >> JAIME, WHILE YOU GUYS HAVE BEEN ON THE AIR I’VE BEEN ACTING LIKE A SOCIAL MEDIA CORRESPONDENT READING REACTIONS ON TWITTER AND ONE OF THE THEORIES BEING FLOAT SIDE

THAT ONCE AUGUSTA NATIONAL ALOUDLOWE LIV PLAYERS TO PLAY THAT BECAME A DOMINO EFFECT AND THAT HASTENED THIS MOVE. THAT IT WAS GOING TO BE INEVITABLE THAT SOME KIND OF MERGER OR ALLOWANCE WOULD HAPPEN BECAUSE THESE PLAYERS WERE ALLOWED TO PLAY IN MAJOR CHAMPIONSHIPS AND PERFORMED WELL IN THE FIRST CHAMPIONSHIPS IS OF THE YEAR. DO YOU LEND CREDENCE TO THAT CONSPIRE SEE THEORY? >> I THINK THE MASTERS HAS TREMENDOUS POWER IN TERMS OF THE BIG ISSUES OF THE GAME AND SO THEY’RE TRUSTED. IT’S EASY TO SAY THAT THEY SET THE AGENDA THERE, BUT I ALSO THINK

THE ANTITRUST SUIT HAD A CHILLING EFFECT ON ANYBODY AMONG THE RULING BODY SAYING YOU CAN’T PLAY IN OUR MAJOR BECAUSE THAT WOULD HAVE GIVEN FUEL TO LIVE IN THE COURT CASE AND LOSING THAT COURT CASE WAS A BIGGER ISSUE THAN LETTING THEM INTO A MAJOR. I THINK THE LONG-TERM STRATEGY BACK BEFORE ALL OF THIS HAPPENED WAS LET’S WAIT THIS OUT AND THEY WON’T QUALIFY FOR MAJORS AND THEY’RE NOT GOING TO GET A CHANCE TO HAVE A GLOBAL REACH AND WE HAVE THAT, THE PGA TOUR SPEAKING FOR THEM AND LET’S HANG ON TO THAT AND LET’S

HOLD THIS, AND I THINK THE TOUR, AND THE COURT CASE WAS A BIG ISSUE, AND YOU KNOW, THE SPONSORS AND THE PROJECTIONS AND THE NEW STRUCTURE OF THE DESIGNATED EVENT AND THE TOUR THEY WEREN’T TALKING ABOUT, BUT MIGHT HAVE BEEN FELT MORE STRONGLY THAN WE KNEW. >> RICH LERNER WITH US FROM L.A. RICH, YOU’RE NOT JUST A GOLF HISTORIAN, BUT A SPORTS JUNKIE. TO SEE SAUDI ARABIA NOW HAVE A JOINT PARTNERSHIP WITH THE PGA TOUR, HOW IS THAT GOING TO ALTER THE LANDSCAPE OF U.S. SPORTS GOING FORWARD? >> WELL, THEY’VE BEEN GIVEN THE GREEN LIGHT

TO INVEST AND INVEST RATHER HEAVILY INTO TRADITIONAL GOLF AND I WOULD THINK THAT’S A SIGNAL TO ANYBODY WHO HAS AN INTEREST EITHER IN GOLF OR IN ANY OTHER AMERICAN SPORT. WE WILL SEE A RUNNING OF THE BULLS TO GET THAT MONEY. NO DOUBT ABOUT THAT AND THE OTHER POINT THAT STICKS OUT TO ME ON THIS DAY IS THAT SECRETARY OF STATE ANTONY BLINKEN IS IN SAUDI ARABIA AS WE SPEAK TRYING TO BOLSTER RELATIONS BETWEEN THE TWO COUNTRIES ON A NUMBER OF FRONTS, ECONOMICS, SECURITY AND ANY NUMBER OF SUBJECTS IN THE GEOPOLITICAL SPHERE AND IT’S TENSE

AND FRAUGHT AND COMPLICATED AT THE MOMENT AND IT’S NOT LOST ON ANYONE COINCIDENTALLY OR NOT THAT ON THE DAY HE’S IN SAUDI ARABIA TRYING TO BOLSTER RELATIONS AND LIV GOLF WHO HAD BEEN AT ODDS AND HAD BEEN IN A PITCHED BATTLE FOR A LONG