A development that might have seemed inevitable, its timing came as a bit of a surprise, considering the contentiousness between the tours and their players. Yes, there were lawsuits involved.
Star players who turned down the money on principle were not pleased with those who took it and ran to Saudi Arabia. Imagine how they feel now. “Knowing all of this, why would I even consider it?” Mickelson said. “Because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reshape how the PGA Tour operates. They’ve been able to get by with manipulative, coercive, strong-arm tactics because we, the players, had no recourse. … The Saudi money has finally given us that leverage.