PGA Tour and LIV Golf agree to MERGE 12 months after bitter split but fuming players left ‘blindsided’

PGA TOUR players were blindsided following the merge with controversial rivals LIV Golf.

The two organisations have come together in what end a year of feuding between the two formats.

But it has left some players bemused, as Collin Morikawa tweeted: "I love finding out morning news on Twitter."

It is widely reported that PGA Tour players were not told ahead of time that the news was coming.

But the merge was announced by PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and Saudi PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan.

Monahan was asked during that interview what he thought the response would be from PGA Tour players.

He said: "Listen, a lot of people have been reading about the tension.

"And I said previously that we were going down our path and they were going down theirs. And today, that tension goes away. The litigation is dropped.

"We're announcing to the world, that on behalf of this game, we're coming together. And it's less about how people respond today, and it's all about how people respond in 10 years.

"And when they see the impact we're having on this game together, there will be a lot of smiles on people's faces, and there will be a lot more people playing this game all over the world.

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"And if you're a young player that wants to get to the highest level in the game today, you'll be more inspired than you've ever been before."

PGA Tour fan favourite Joel Dahmen poked fun at LIV's team concept, which will be kept alive in some form in their new combined entity.

He tweeted: "I've grown up being a fan of the 4 Aces. Maybe one day I get to play for them on the PGA Tour!"

Wesley Bryan added: "Love finding out info on twitter. This is amazing. Y'all should be ashamed and have a lot of questions to answer.

"I feel betrayed, and will not not be able to trust anyone within the corporate structure of the PGA TOUR for a very long time."

LIV Golf players were not given an indication the merger was coming either, according to the Golf Channel, though they received the news differently.

Phil Mickelson posted: "Awesome day today."

Love finding out info on twitter. This is amazing. Y'all should be ashamed and have a lot of questions to answer. "I feel betrayed, and will not not be able to trust anyone within the corporate structure of the PGA TOUR for a very long time.

Wesley Bryan

Mickelson was among the first players to make the jump from the PGA Tour to LIV Golf.

Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau and Dustin Johnson were among the others to be prised away from the PGA Tour.

But the likes of Hideki Matsuyama and Tiger Woods turned down multimillion dollar offers to pledge their loyalty to the PGA.

LIV Golf came under heavy criticism after its launch due to allegations of sports washing and Saudi Arabia's human right record.

Human rights organisation Amnesty International:“While this may have taken some golf fans and commentators by surprise, it’s really just more evidence of the onward march of Saudi sportswashing.

“It’s been clear for some time that Saudi Arabia was prepared to use vast amounts of money to muscle its way into top-tier golf - just part of a wider effort to become a major sporting power and to try to distract attention from the country’s atrocious human rights record.

“Away from the glamour of the golf courses and the TV cameras there’s been mounting repression in Saudi Arabia, with government critics and human rights activists arrested, a spate of unfair trials, and with the death penalty widely used, including as a tool of political repression.

“Last year alone, the Saudi authorities executed 196 people, the highest number for at least 30 years, and the Leeds University PhD student Salma al-Shehab was given a long jail sentence for tweeting her support for Saudi women’s rights activists.

“The world of golf may be about to put one of its most high-profile commercial battles behind it, but it’s vital that this latest surge in Saudi sportswashing isn’t allowed to obscure the increasingly dire human rights situation in Saudi Arabia.”