Jimmy Dunne is the man behind the merger between the LIV Golf and the PGA Tour.
He initiated the deal with LIV Golf by sending a text to the governor of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, Yasir Al-Rumayyan on April 18 at 7:10 am, that read:
"Yasir, my name is Jimmy Dunne. I'm a member of the tour policy board. I'd like the opportunity for a call and hopefully a visit."
After receiving a reply from the PIF governor, Dunne flew to England and had dinner with him and discussed the merger.
The mastermind behind the PGA Tour and LIV Golf merger, Jimmy Dunne recently unveiled the blueprints of the deal to SI.
Here are the parameters of the merger:
- As per the contract, the PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan will oversee the LIV Golf and will evaluate it at the end of the year while the Tour will remain a partner of the DP World Tour.
- The Tour will still be called the PGA Tour.
- Jay Monahan has the right to disband LIV Golf if he wants to.
- The LIV golfers who are barred from the PGA Tour will only be allowed to return to the Tour if the commissioner and PGA Tour leaders approve it. The Tour can also impose penalties to return.
- PIF will be the contributing investment partner of the PGA Tour while the Tour has the controlling power.
- The PGA Tour has promised Saudis the right to first refusal while the PIF has not promised any investment to the Tour.
- The legal disputes between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf have been resolved.
"The entire master plan"- Jimmy Dunne talks about the PGA Tour-LIV Golf merger
In a recent media interview, Jimmy Dunne discussed the LIV Golf-PGA Tour partnership. He approached Al-Rumayyan directly to inquire about his substantial investment in LIV Golf as Greg Norman, LIV Golf CEO, was not the one who funded it.
"I believe in getting to the right person,” Dunne said. “I had said to Jay, ‘At some point, we need to do that. Let's really understand what's important to them. What are they trying to do? And is there a path between what they want to do with the game of golf, and what we want to do? Could we possibly work this out?’ That (was) the entire master plan,” Dunne said.
Al-Rumayyan made it fairly clear that the PIF has an interest in growing golf. LIV was supposed to end.
Dunne went on to say:
“He was more about growing the pie and interest in the game, rather than. ‘We're gonna do it x way. They have LIV, which, at some level, they've got to think was not what they hoped it would be. They have the ability to align with the PGA Tour, and that is meaningful to them. And that’s it.”
The Saudi Arabia PIF has invested around $1 billion in the LIV Golf.