What does golf’s blockbuster ‘merger’ mean for the game and its players?

Disrupter Greg Norman is not the only one attached to LIV who will surely soon discover their services are no longer required

Former US President Donald Trump on the 18th green ahead of the LIV Golf tournament at Trump National GC in Sterling, Virginia.

The playing of a Presidents Cup, for so long the Ryder Cup’s poor relation, in Saudi Arabia now has to be on the table. The deal struck between LIV Golf and one-time rivals, the PGA and DP World Tours, is all about bang for buck.

The Saudis will believe they have saved face by joining forces with golf’s establishment – there will be no more potentially embarrassing litigation – but their desperate bid to earn legitimacy via sport also means this deal has to work two ways.