Donald Trump and others react to PGA and LIV's 'big, beautiful, and glamorous deal'
Former President Trump predicted this day would come.
Last July, while taking part in a pro-am during an LIV Golf event at his Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J., Trump heaped praise on the newly formed, Saudi-backed tour while criticizing the PGA Tour and the golfers that remained loyal to it.
“You have really the best players in the world, many of the best players in the world," he said at the time, "and soon you’ll probably have all of them because remember this, [when] there’s a merger, the people that didn’t come, they will never get anything except a thank you from people that took advantage.”
That merger happened Tuesday — and Trump was quick to share his excitement with a post on his Truth Social platform.
"Great news from LIV golf," he wrote. "A big, beautiful, and glamorous deal for the wonderful world of golf."
The PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which operates LIV Golf, announced an agreement Tuesday that combines the two entities and will also encompass the DP World Tour, which is also known as the European Tour. The new group’s name will be announced at a later date.
The former president wasn't the only one to respond on social media to the announcement. Greg Norman, LIV’s chief executive, and two of the biggest names on the LIV roster — Brooks Koepka and Phil Mickelson — expressed their pleasure. Koepka got in a dig at Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee, who had criticized the golfers who had joined the controversial new tour.
Good morning! pic.twitter.com/MR5pfkrQDa
— Greg Norman Jr (@GregJrNorman) June 6, 2023
Awesome day today 😊 https://t.co/qUwVJiydym
— Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) June 6, 2023
Welfare Check on Chamblee
— Brooks Koepka (@BKoepka) June 6, 2023
Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, two PGA golfers who had been among the most vocal objectors to LIV Golf, have not yet publicly responded to the merger. Other PGA golfers expressed surprise, and often anger, at an announcement that caught many off guard.
And everyone thought yesterday was the longest day in golf
— Collin Morikawa (@collin_morikawa) June 6, 2023
Very curious how many people knew this deal was happening. About 5-7 people? Player run organization right? 🤷🏻♂️
— Michael S. Kim (@Mike_kim714) June 6, 2023
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 (@wesleybryangolf) June 6, 2023
Nothing like finding out through Twitter that we’re merging with a tour that we said we’d never do that with.
— Mackenzie Hughes (@MacHughesGolf) June 6, 2023
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.