, the U.S. Department of Justice has informed the PGA Tour that it is reviewing the proposed merger for antitrust concerns. The PGA Tour and LIV Golf, the golf beneficiary of the PIF wealth, had been involved in litigation with one another, including allegations that the Tour had engaged in anticompetitive practices, but the proposed merger would end all litigation between the two entities.
The prospect of antitrust litigation ending with both antagonists merging with one another is a scenario that always draws significant regulatory scrutiny. Government entities had already been taking a close look at the two tours, both independently and in concert, and the stunning news of the merger — which took almost the entire golf world by surprise — only heightens the stakes of that scrutiny.
Details on any investigation are nonexistent given the preliminary state of affairs, but the Department of Justice's inquiry only adds to the number of governmental eyes now trained on the world of professional golf. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, in his role as the chairman of the Senate Permanent Committee on Investigations, has informed both the PGA Tour and LIV Golf that