As relationship roadmaps go, the joint schedule announced Tuesday by the PGA and European tours equates to friendly fumbling on first base. It did however tick some boxes essential to any courtship: there was the vow of greater strength in unity, the meticulous language used in whispering sweet nothings and—by no means least—the deliberate omission of past differences and rival suitors.
That last point is consequential. Every statement by the tours or their leaders, Jay Monahan and Keith Pelley, was in lockstep, positioning their alliance as bettering the professional game globally, increasing playing opportunities for members, boosting purses and delivering a more robust product to consumers. The intent was to gratify one constituency—their members—and leave two others disappointed: the Saudis, who have been pushing a Super Golf League splinter circuit, and corporate attorneys, who have been drooling at the potential for billable hours parsing anti-trust law.
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