Trump praises merger between PGA and LIV Golf

The Trump family, host of LIV tournaments in the United States and a major driver of the series’ efforts to break away from the PGA Tour, expects tournaments to continue to be played on their golf courses once the merger is complete.

“This merger is great for the game of golf,” Eric Trump said in an interview Tuesday. “I really believe that.”

His father, Donald J. Trump, also praised the deal. On Truth Social, the former president’s social media platform and personal megaphone, he wrote, “Great news from LIV Golf. A big, beautiful and glamorous deal for the wonderful world of golf.”

The LIV series has been a boon to the Trump family, who lost major tournaments after the attack on the capital on January 6, 2021, including that of golf’s four majors, the 2022 PGA Championship. That tournament was to be played at the Trump National Golf Club Bedminster in New Jersey, but the organizer, the PGA of America, stripped the club of hosting rights a few days after the attack in the capital.

Last July, just before the first LIV tournament was played at Trump National Bedminster, Mr. Trump predicted that the series would eventually merge, suggesting that players who remained loyal to the PGA Tour were making a financial mistake.

“All those who remain ‘loyal’ to the deeply disloyal PGA, in all its various forms, will pay a heavy price when the inevitable MERGER with LIV arrives, and you will get nothing but a big ‘thank you’ from PGA officials who deserve millions of dollars a year’, Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social in July 2022. “If you don’t take the money now, you’ll get nothing after the merger happens and you’re just saying how smart the original signatories were.”

LIV has scheduled tournaments this year at Trump-owned golf courses in Florida and New Jersey, and it just completed a tournament at a Trump golf course in Virginia. Negotiations are underway for more potential tournaments at Trump-owned facilities next year, though it’s now unclear if the series will continue in its current format.

When asked if the Trump family had played a role in pushing the PGA and LIV groups to merge, Eric Trump declined to comment Tuesday. But he did say the family has close friends developed over many years in the golfing world, including those from the PGA and LIV groups.