LIV Golf, PGA Merger is a Huge Win for Donald Trump

The shock merger between the PGA Tour and Saudi-funded breakaway LIV Golf could be a "coup" for Donald Trump, if it leads to high-profile tournaments being staged at his golf clubs, according to a senior political scientist.

On Tuesday a "landmark agreement to unify the game of golf" was announced between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), which finances LIV Golf.

Trump announced he is seeking the Republican presidential nomination for a third time in November, with polling indicating he is the most popular choice among GOP voters, ahead of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. However the former president is currently bogged down in legal difficulties, from which a major golf competition at one of his clubs could prove a welcome distraction.

LIV Golf, later renamed the LIV Golf League, was founded in 2021 with the first LIV Golf Invitational Series event taking place at the Centurion Club near London in June 2022. The tour was immensely controversial because of its close ties to Saudi Arabia, and in particular Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who chairs the PIF. In 2021 U.S. intelligence reported that bin Salman approved the murder of dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed and dismembered in Istanbul in 2018, though he denies any involvement.

Players who supported LIV Golf, including big names such as Sergio Garcia and Phil Mickelson, were suspended from the PGA Tour in response.

Trump has backed the PGA Tour/LIV Golf merger, which he described as a "big, beautiful and glamorous deal" on Truth Social.

In July 2022 the former president predicted the rival tours would merge, commenting: "All those golfers that remain 'loyal' to the very disloyal PGA, in all of its different forms, will pay a big price when the inevitable MERGER with LIV comes."

Trump has a business relationship with LIV Golf, which has staged events at his courses in New Jersey, Florida and Virginia. By contrast the golfing establishment has increasingly turned on Trump, with the PGA Tour announcing an end to its longstanding event at Trump National Doral Miami in 2016.

The New York business tycoon also has an unusually close relationship with the Saudis, with the PIF committing $2 billion to an investment fund launched by Jared Kushner, who is married to Trump's daughter Ivanka.

During a 2015 campaign rally Trump claimed Saudis had spent "$40 million, $50 million" buying apartments from him.

Trump has tried to hold major PGA tournaments at his clubs to no avail, with his Scottish club Turnberry being denied the opportunity to host The Open by golf governing body the R&A.

However, the PGA Tour/LIV Golf merger has triggered speculation that high profile events could be hosted at Trump-owned courses.

Speaking to Newsweek Thomas Gift, who heads up the Centre on U.S. Politics at University College London, commented: "Although the PGA-LIV merger is already putting professional golf at the frontlines of a new culture war, the prospect of a Trump-owned course hosting a tour event would be a coup for the former president.

"It would amplify his brand, and give him yet another opportunity to grab the spotlight—all while boasting of his 'perfect' and 'best-in-class' business ventures. It's a tailor-made campaign event for a politician who's already closely linked himself to golf."

However, Associate Professor Marvin Ryder, an expert in sports marketing at McMaster University in Ontario, told Newsweek it is "too early to tell" if the deal is good news for Trump.

He said: "While LIV was backed with lots of Saudi money and, yes, Trump is friendly with the Saudi royal family, I don't think it automatically means that one or more Trump golf courses will figure in the schedule in 2024. Saudi wealth makes Trump's wealth look minuscule. They don't need him to be part of their plans.

"I suspect the Trump organization might have negotiated some sweet deals to get LIV to play at Trump golf courses but with the PGA and DP World Tours flexing their muscle, I'm not sure there is any opening for Trump."

Newsweek has approached Trump for comment via the press contact form on his official website.