Sixteen-year old junior golfers Ryan Lue and Mattea Issa produced dominant performances to win the male and female sections of the Jamaica Golf Association's National Senior Trials at the Half Moon Golf Course in St. Jameson on the weekend.
Lue topped the leaderboard each day with scores of 70, 72 and 68, respectively, for a combined score of 210 to win by eight strokes.
"I had a pretty good weekend. It was really fun out there. Played well. Game really connected. Feel really happy about my outcome,” said Lue who had a dream start to his final round on Sunday with an eagle before following up with birdies on holes number two, six and eight for five under par 31 on the front nine.
“It was tough for the three days but I felt calm on the course and it paid off. It showed off in my scores and I am happy to be back competing in Jamaica again and it was really fun and I am happy to come out on top."
Recently crowned national champion, William Knibbs, was the runner up with score of 76, 72 and 70 while Zandre Roye (73, 75, 73) finished third. Rocco Lopez 226 (77, 76, 73) took fourth place. Owen Samuda (85, 71, 78) and Aman Dhiman (81, 75, 78) tied for fifth place.
Issa shot an 82 on Sunday to win her first senior event. Jodi Munn-Barrow shot an 81 on Sunday but it was not enough to overcome Issa, who shot 80 on Saturday to Munn-Barrow’s 84. Their final day score was a repeat of the first day score, with Issa scoring 82 to Munn-Barrow's 81 for a combined total of 244 and 246, respectively.
“I am happy to come away with the win this weekend. The conditions were not ideal. It was raining for the majority of the first two days. Unfortunately, I didn't manage to get a practice round in as it was raining" said Issa.
"It was fun getting to play with aunty Jodi Munn-Barrow, the president of the Jamaica Golf Association as I am always learning from her.
“I am so proud of all the other juniors who participated in the senior national trials and did so well. Overall, it was a fun tournament and I am very excited to represent Jamaica for the junior team in Cayman and hopefully for the senior team in Tobago."
The other female in the field was Anoushka Khatri who posted a score of 283 (93, 96, 94) for third place.
Rory McIlroy was reportedly involved in an angry exchange at a meeting of PGA Tour players as commissioner Jay Monahan attempted to justify the shock declaration of peace in golf’s civil war.
McIlroy and Tiger Woods had established themselves as the biggest supporters of the PGA Tour in its battle with LIV Golf, but were both kept in the dark about the stunning deal announced on Tuesday.
Fellow players reacted with surprise and a sense of betrayal at the news that the PGA Tour and DP World Tour were merging their commercial operations with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), which bankrolls LIV Golf.
The announcement came after 12 months of unprecedented disruption in the men’s professional game following the launch of LIV, which held its first event from June 9-11 in 2022 in Hertfordshire.
Monahan faced calls to resign at a 75-minute players’ meeting which he described as “intense and certainly heated”, with his previous comments that anyone who took LIV money would never play on the PGA Tour again cited and greeted with applause, according to former player Johnson Wagner.
Golf Channel reported that Wagner had access to an audio feed of the meeting and that McIlroy told world number 227 Grayson Murray to “just play better” as Murray criticised Monahan.
Murray responded by telling McIlroy to “f*** off”, although another player, Wesley Bryan, later confirmed the exchange on social media before adding: “They were cordial and pleasant post meeting.
“We chatted as a group of players and we were laughing about the comment. No beef or hard feelings either way.”
Monahan accepted that he will be labelled a “hypocrite” but insisted the players who remained loyal to the PGA Tour had made the right decision.
“They have helped re-architect the future of the PGA Tour, they have moved us to a more competitive model,” Monahan said.
“We have significantly invested in our business in 2023, we’re going to do so in ’24. (But) we’ve had to invest back in our business through our reserves. Between our reserves, the legal fees, our underpin and our commitment to the DP World Tour and their legal fees, it’s been significant.
“But this puts us in a position where we’ve got capital that we can deploy to the benefit of our members and through our tournaments, and it gives us capital to deploy in growth businesses that ultimately will generate a return that we’ll reinvest in our players.”
Asked if the likes of Woods and McIlroy would be compensated for turning down lucrative offers from LIV, or whether those who took massive pay-outs to join the breakaway would have to pay that money back, Monahan said: “I think those are all the serious conversations that we’re going to have.
“Ultimately everything needs to be considered. Ultimately what you’re talking about is an equalisation over time and I think that’s a fair and reasonable concept.”
Dundee boss Tony Docherty is “thrilled” by the recruitment of Scott Tiffoney as he gears up for the cinch Premiership next season.
The winger has agreed to join the newly-promoted Tayside club when his contract with Partick Thistle ends at the weekend.
Tiffoney was in the Jags side which lost to Ross County in the Premiership play-off final.
Docherty, who took over as Dundee boss last week, told the club’s official website: “I am thrilled that Scott will be joining the club. He is a player that I have monitored and admired for a long time and is a player that will get the fans off their seats.
“When he has the ball, he can make things happen, he can create chances for others, and he can create opportunities for himself.
“He has a tremendous work ethic and wants to improve as a player.
“He is committed to the club and will be moving up here and I’m really excited about having him at the club.”
Tiffoney began his career with Greenock Morton before moving to Livingston in 2018 and then to Partick Thistle.
He has also had loan spells at Clyde, Morton, Ayr and Partick Thistle.
Courage Mon Ami has been given the go-ahead to contest the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot in spite of his owner Anthony Oppenheimer’s concerns regarding his stamina for the testing trip.
As a late blooming three-year-old last year, he did not hit the track until mid-September, yet patience paid off as he won a pair of 12-furlong all-weather novice races at Kempton and Newcastle in great style for John and Thady Gosden.
Gelded over the winter, the son of Frankel stepped up to a mile and three-quarters for his handicap debut upon his return to action at Goodwood last month and justified favouritism with a two-and-three-quarter-length victory over Aggagio.
Following his impressive victory to remain unbeaten at the South Downs track, the lightly-raced four-year-old was cut to as short as 10-1 for the Gold Cup on June 22.
Oppenheimer is open-minded about whether Courage Mon Ami will stay the two and a half miles on what will be his first try in Group One company.
He said: “He’s a nice staying horse. I’m not sure he will stay that distance, but we are confident he will stay two miles, we’re just not sure about another four furlongs.”
He went on: “There are definitely possibilities he will stay, but without running we won’t see.
“He is a big, strong horse – a huge horse. We couldn’t really run him much last year because he was so big. With the firm ground, we had to wait and wait. It was a very nice, pleasant surprise when he did run. He strengthened up extremely well.”
With little rain in the forecast over the next week or so, it is a distinct possibility the ground will be on the fast side at Ascot.
“I don’t think the ground will be a problem,” added the owner. “He won the other day on good to firm. He is by Frankel and I don’t think there’s an issue there.
“But if it was heavy or a bit too soft, I’d not be too sure. Good to firm will be no problem at all.”
Jodie Burrage has the British number one ranking and a top-100 place in her sights as she looks to write a positive narrative this grass-court season.
Bone stress in her arm forced the 24-year-old to miss her chance to qualify last month for the French Open, where no British women were in the main draw for the first time since 2008.
It was particularly frustrating for Burrage because she had just reached her career-high ranking of 106 after winning a second-tier tournament in France and was only a win or two away from overtaking Emma Raducanu to become the country’s leading woman.
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“Obviously missing the French was a really tough call for me,” Burrage told the PA news agency. “I’m not good with missing tournaments anyway but it was kind of a conversation of, ‘you either play French and then miss grass or you miss the French and then play grass’.
“There’s quite a few things that I missed out on and could-have-beens but that’s just what tennis is, ups and downs. Hopefully I’ll get there at some point, and I believe that I can get there, I’ll just have to wait a little bit longer.”
Burrage and the rest of the leading British women are beginning their grass-court campaigns this week at the Lexus Surbiton Trophy, and there is a good chance that by the end of the week one of them will have passed Raducanu.
Burrage and Katie Boulter are best placed but Harriet Dart and Katie Swan are also in contention, with the quartet all looking to push on into the top 100.
Burrage is optimistic the domestic picture will look healthier come the end of Wimbledon, saying of the French Open wipe-out: “It is a bit of a timing thing. There are obviously quite a few of us that are 110-140 so I’m sure in the grass-court season some of those girls are going to push through.
“It is obviously disappointing from a British outlook but I can’t really focus on the whole of British tennis. I’m at my career-high ranking and have had some really good wins and a really good season.”
Burrage admits she follows the ranking permutations – “I just want to know where I could be if I get wins, it motivates me” – but she is thinking wider than simply British number one.
“It’s definitely a big goal to be British number one,” she said. “Obviously rankings and stuff is done throughout the world so I guess I kind of focus more on your actual ranking.
“I would love to be able to say I got to British number one but, one, I’m not there yet, two, it could not happen, so overall I’m just looking at boosting my ranking up to get me in grand slam main draws and that’s my real focus.”
Another major target is to force her way into Britain’s Billie Jean King Cup team for their play-off against Sweden in November.
Burrage was upset to miss out on selection for last year’s finals and then the qualifier against France in April, when she was the highest-ranked player available.
“It’s something that I would really love to do, to play a match for Great Britain,” she said. “I was disappointed not to be in the team but I can’t really do much about that now. My job now is to make sure I’m in the squad for next time. Hopefully I can do it because it’s one of my biggest goals.”
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Burrage talked things through with captain Anne Keothavong, and added: “If I take care of things week in, week out then I kind of take the question out of her hands a little bit so that’s what I’m trying to do.
“I spoke to Anne at length about it all. She’s got good comms. Hopefully for next time I can make it an easier decision for her.”
Burrage used the opportunities given to her on grass last year to push up the rankings, reaching the semi-finals in Surbiton and the final in Ilkley before beating then world number four Paula Badosa in Eastbourne.
She suffered a second first-round loss at Wimbledon, though, and bettering that is the first aim.
“I’m just looking forward to playing,” she said. “I’m still yet to win a match there so that’s my first goal, but I can’t wait. The ultimate goal is Wimbledon but we’ve still got five weeks before that so there’s a lot of work to be done first.”
Moeen Ali has answered England’s Ashes call, reversing his retirement from Test cricket for one last mission against Australia.
England’s plans for the series were derailed by a stress fracture to first-choice spinner Jack Leach but Moeen has agreed to return to red-ball cricket for the first time in almost two years to fill the breach.
The 35-year-old was invited to join the squad at the start of the week and, after taking a couple of days to ponder his decision, has now agreed to join up with the team.
England did have other options, including 18-year-old Rehan Ahmed, who became England’s youngest Test cricketer when he debuted in Karachi in December, and Surrey’s Will Jacks but none with the experience and credentials of Moeen.
He has 64 Test caps, 195 wickets and the small matter of five Test centuries. With Jonny Bairstow slotting back into the side at number seven following his return from a broken leg, Moeen is likely to bat at eight and give the home side a seriously dangerous lower order.
The Ashes begins at Moeen’s home ground of Edgbaston on July 16, with the all-rounder due to turn 36 on day three.
Rob Key, England’s managing director of men’s cricket, was involved in discussions alongside head coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes and explained: “We reached out to Mo early this week about returning to Test cricket. Having had a couple of days to reflect, Mo is excited to join the squad and play Test cricket again.
“His vast experience, along with his all-round ability, will benefit our Ashes campaign. We wish Mo and the rest of the squad well for the Ashes campaign.”
McCullum previously tried to tempt Moeen back into the fray for the historic tour of Pakistan but, after initially declaring himself open to the idea, Moeen ultimately decided to stick to limited-overs cricket.
Speaking at the time, Moeen concluded: “I want to enjoy my cricket and it wouldn’t be fair to reverse my decision and then struggle to give it my all. It’s time to close the door on that side of my career. To play 64 Tests for England has been a privilege and a dream fulfilled.”
He has now been persuaded to take the field again, warming to the idea of turning out for Stokes and McCullum. They have overhauled the way England play the game, prioritising an attacking, proactive style that fits Moeen’s own approach like a glove.
Australia have proved thorny opponents for Moeen in the past, with his career bowling average climbing from 36.66 to 64.65 in Ashes cricket, but he is ready to embrace unfinished business against England’s biggest rivals.
He will need to get back to grips with the red Dukes ball after dedicating himself to the white-ball formats since September 2021, and will work alongside spin coach Jeetan Patel in the run-up to the series opener in Birmingham.
Chelsea and Jose Mourinho reached a settlement with former team doctor Eva Carneiro over her claims that she was constructively dismissed by the club, and victimised by its former manager, on this day in 2016.
Carneiro had brought the claim at an employment tribunal, accusing Mourinho of victimisation and discrimination. She was due to begin giving evidence but after last-minute talks between the parties, a settlement was agreed.
Mourinho made a surprise appearance at the hearing at the London South Employment Tribunal centre in Croydon.
Addressing the tribunal, Daniel Stilitz QC, for Chelsea and Mourinho, said: “We are pleased to be able to tell the tribunal that the parties agreed a settlement on confidential terms.”
The case was expected to last seven to 10 days and could have led to potentially embarrassing witness statements and documents – including texts and emails – being made public.
It was revealed that Carneiro had refused £1.2 million to settle her claims with Mourinho and Chelsea. Details of the final deal between the parties were not released.
Carneiro had alleged she was sexually discriminated against after she went on to the pitch to treat Eden Hazard during the opening day of the Premier League season on August 8, 2015.
She claimed that, as she ran on to the pitch during the game with Swansea, Mourinho shouted “filha da puta” at her.
In a statement to the tribunal, Mourinho conceded that he used the term “filho da puta”, meaning “son of a whore”, but insisted he had been using it throughout the match.
Carneiro was removed from first-team duties at Chelsea shortly after the Swansea game and then parted company with the club the following month.
Chelsea said in a statement: “The club regrets the circumstances which led to Dr Carneiro leaving the club and apologises unreservedly to her and her family for the distress caused.
“We wish to place on record that in running onto the pitch Dr Carneiro was following both the rules of the game and fulfilling her responsibility to the players as a doctor, putting their safety first.
“Dr Carneiro has always put the interests of the club’s players first. Dr Carneiro is a highly competent and professional sports doctor. She was a valued member of the club’s medical team and we wish her every success in her future career.”
Rory McIlroy was set to address the media on Wednesday for the first time since the shock declaration of peace in golf’s civil war.
McIlroy and Tiger Woods had established themselves as the biggest supporters of the PGA Tour in its battle with LIV Golf, but both were kept in the dark about the stunning deal announced on Tuesday.
Fellow players reacted with surprise and a sense of betrayal at the news that the PGA Tour and DP World Tour were merging their commercial operations with the Saudi-backed LIV Golf series.
The announcement came after 12 months of unprecedented disruption in the men’s professional game following the launch of LIV, which held its first event from June 9-11 in 2022 in Hertfordshire.
Defending champion McIlroy was scheduled to give a press conference ahead of the RBC Canadian Open following the pre-tournament pro-am on Wednesday.
Former US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau, one of the most high-profile recruits to LIV Golf, described the agreement as “the best thing that could ever happen for the game of golf.”
He told CNN: “The fans are going to get what they want. I want the fans, the players and the game of golf to win. In the end, the game of golf wins in this scenario.
“We are better together and not apart.”
PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan accepted he will be labelled a hypocrite and admitted players who turned down millions to join LIV Golf could be compensated.
Players reacted with surprise and a sense of betrayal at the news after 12 months of unprecedented disruption in the men’s professional game following the launch of LIV, which held its first event from June 9-11 in 2022 in Hertfordshire.
Monahan faced calls to resign at a players’ meeting which he described as “intense and certainly heated”, with his previous comments that anyone who took LIV money would never play on the PGA Tour again cited and greeted with applause, according to Tour Advisory Council member Johnson Wagner.
“I recognise that people are going to call me a hypocrite,” Monahan said.
“Any time I’ve said anything I’ve said it with the information I had at that moment, and I said it based on someone that’s trying to compete for the PGA Tour and our players.
“I accept those criticisms but circumstances do change and I think looking at the big picture got us to this point.
“It probably didn’t seem this way to them but as I looked to those players that have been loyal to the PGA Tour, I’m confident they made the right decision.
“They have helped re-architect the future of the PGA Tour, they have moved us to a more competitive model. We have significantly invested in our business in 2023, we’re going to do so in ’24.”
Asked if the likes of Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy would be compensated for turning down lucrative offers to remain with the PGA Tour, or whether those who took pay-outs to join LIV Golf would have to pay that money back, Monahan said: “I think those are all the serious conversations that we’re going to have.
“Ultimately everything needs to be considered. Ultimately what you’re talking about is an equalisation over time and I think that’s a fair and reasonable concept.”
The manager of one high-profile DP World Tour member told the PA news agency that players were aggrieved at the lack of communication and “extremely shocked” by the decision given the long suspensions and heavy fines handed out to rebel players.
Michael Beale is looking to the Rangers academy for players to play their part on and off the park.
The Gers manager is revamping his squad this summer in a bid to turn the tables on domestic treble winners Celtic, but saleable assets are in short supply.
Rangers sold youth product Nathan Patterson to Everton in January 2022 for a reported £12million.
Midfielder Joe Aribo, brought from Charlton in 2019, was sold to Southampton last summer for a reported fee of £6million while defender and fellow Nigeria international Calvin Bassey, recruited from Leicester in 2020, joined Ajax for a fee widely reported as around £20million.
Gers boss Beale told Sky Sports Scotland that the Ibrox club need to generate more wealth while keeping results positive.
He said: “Everyone just wants you to win. I need to win and put some stability into the club, some harmony, some players in it which I feel can grow for the next two or three years here.
“That there’s a value on their head as well if they do well that we can trade and start again in terms of bringing other players in.
“If we look at the last 12 to 14 months, Nathan Patterson left the building, (as did) Joe Aribo and Calvin Bassey for the outlay of which was probably under £500,000.
“For the finance that we brought in, it was great but it’s important you have a conveyor belt behind it.
“It’s important the links between me and the academy are really strong to open a pathway.
“We have had a number of academy players on the pitch this year but who’s going to stay in?
“Who’s going to be a mainstay? Who’s going to be a marquee player for Rangers?
“The fans and the outside media will just look every three to five days when you play.
“Win, lose or draw that’s how they’ll deem success. I need to win. The team need to win. My staff need to win. But we also need to make sure we build a really strong club moving forward.”
David Moyes may stand just one match from writing his name into West Ham folklore, but he will not compare himself to the club’s two managerial greats.
If the Hammers overcome Fiorentina in the final of the Europa Conference League on Wednesday night, Moyes will become only the third manager, after Ron Greenwood and John Lyall, to guide the east London club to a major trophy.
Greenwood, who went on to manage England, was in charge when West Ham won their only previous European trophy, the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1964, while their last piece of silverware, the FA Cup, came under Lyall in 1980.
Yet Moyes insisted: “I don’t think of myself as any different to anyone else in this room.
“I’m really fortunate and privileged and thankful to be given an opportunity to be a football manager and to have the opportunity to go this far in my career and be on a stage like this.
“I think it’s really special. I don’t ever really think of myself as being a legend or any words like that.
“I’d just like to be known as a football manager and one who’s serious about his job and tries to do the best he possibly can, week-in week-out, try to prepare my teams to be competitive.
“I’d like to be known as much for that as much as I would the word ‘legend’, really.”
The final will hold special memories for West Ham’s Czech duo Vladimir Coufal and Tomas Soucek, who both played for Slavia Prague at the Eden Arena.
Midfielder Soucek said: “When I realised one year ago that the final was in Prague and we were in this competition, I was like, ‘come on guys, we have to go there’.
“And now we are here in the Eden Arena in Prague, I can connect with the two teams I love.”
The New York Yankees will be without slugger Aaron Judge for at least the next 10 days, with the superstar going back on the injured list with a contusion and sprained ligament in his right big toe.
An MRI on Tuesday showed Judge has no break or fracture in his toe, but a sprain will keep him sidelined until at least mid-June.
The 2022 AL MVP sustained the injury while making a highlight-reel catch against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday. He knocked open the door of the visiting bullpen while making the catch and slammed his toe against the concrete at the bottom of the wall.
This is the second time this season that Judge will spend time on the injured list after a right hip strain forced him to miss two weeks in late April/early May.
Judge is putting together another stellar season, batting .291 with an AL-best 19 home runs and 40 RBIs in 49 games.
Leaders of the PGA Tour should be “ashamed of their hypocrisy and greed” in agreeing a deal with Saudi-backed LIV Golf, according to a group representing relatives of victims of 9/11.
After a turbulent year in the sport since the creation of the LIV Golf Tour, backed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, a surprise deal was announced on Tuesday to work with the PGA Tour and DP World Tour (the European tour) on commercial matters.
But with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) backing the new, joint venture, 9/11 Families United said it is “shocked and deeply offended” by the move which it says is “bankrolled by billions of sportswashing money”.
A statement from the group said: “Saudi operatives played a role in the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and now it is bankrolling all of professional golf.”
The group’s chair Terry Strada, whose husband Tom died in the World Trade Centre’s North Tower, said PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan had “co-opted the 9/11 community” when the split between the tours happened.
She said: “Mr Monahan talked last summer about knowing people who lost loved ones on 9/11, then wondered aloud on national television whether LIV golfers ever had to apologise for being a member of the PGA Tour.
“They do now – as does he. PGA Tour leaders should be ashamed of their hypocrisy and greed.
“Our entire community has been betrayed by Commissioner Monahan and the PGA as it appears their concern for our loved ones was merely window dressing in their quest for money – it was never to honour the great game of golf.”
Mr Monahan said he realised people would call him a “hypocrite” after the announcement and that he “expected a lot of questions and criticisms”.
Mrs Strada’s comments follow criticism by Amnesty International which said the merger – which will see PIF governor Yasir Al Rumayyan chair the new board of governors and allow the fund exclusive rights to further investment and first refusal on any other capital – was drawing attention away from the country’s human rights record.
Amnesty International UK’s head of priority campaigns and individuals at risk Felix Jakens said: “While this may have taken some golf fans and commentators by surprise, it’s really just more evidence of the onward march of Saudi sportswashing.”
“It’s been clear for some time that Saudi Arabia was prepared to use vast amounts of money to muscle its way into top-tier golf – just part of a wider effort to become a major sporting power and to try to distract attention from the country’s atrocious human rights record.”
PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan accepted that he will be labelled a hypocrite and admitted players who turned down millions to join LIV Golf could be compensated following the shock declaration of peace in golf’s civil war.
Players reacted with surprise and a sense of betrayal at the news that the PGA Tour and DP World Tour were merging their commercial operations with the Saudi-backed LIV Golf series.
The stunning announcement came after 12 months of unprecedented disruption in the men’s professional game following the launch of LIV, which held its first event from June 9-11 in 2022 in Hertfordshire.
Monahan faced calls to resign at a players’ meeting which he described as “intense and certainly heated”, with his previous comments that anyone who took LIV money would never play on the PGA Tour again cited and greeted with applause, according to Tour Advisory Council member Johnson Wagner.
“I recognise that people are going to call me a hypocrite,” Monahan said.
“Any time I’ve said anything I’ve said it with the information I had at that moment, and I said it based on someone that’s trying to compete for the PGA Tour and our players.
“I accept those criticisms but circumstances do change and I think looking at the big picture got us to this point.
“It probably didn’t seem this way to them but as I looked to those players that have been loyal to the PGA Tour, I’m confident they made the right decision.
“They have helped re-architect the future of the PGA Tour, they have moved us to a more competitive model. We have significantly invested in our business in 2023, we’re going to do so in ’24.”
Asked if the likes of Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy would be compensated for turning down lucrative offers to remain with the PGA Tour, or whether those who took payouts to join LIV Golf would have to pay that money back, Monahan said: “I think those are all the serious conversations that we’re going to have.
“Ultimately everything needs to be considered. Ultimately what you’re talking about is an equalisation over time and I think that’s a fair and reasonable concept.”
Monahan said he could not envisage a scenario where LIV events would run concurrently with PGA Tour events from next season and said the deal enabled his organisation to take a competitor “off the board… and for us to be able to control the direction going forward”.
DP World Tour chief executive Keith Pelley had earlier described the deal as a “great victory for global golf”.
However, the manager of one high-profile DP World Tour member told the PA news agency that players were aggrieved at the lack of communication and “extremely shocked” by the decision given the long suspensions and heavy fines handed out to rebel players.
In April, the DP World Tour won its legal battle against 12 players who committed “serious breaches” of its code of behaviour by playing in LIV Golf events without permission.
The subsequent increased fines and suspensions prompted Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter and Henrik Stenson to resign their memberships and become ineligible for the Ryder Cup, where Stenson had been due to captain the European team.
Those players could now return, with the tours pledging to establish a “fair and objective process” to re-apply for membership, although Pelley confirmed they would need to pay their fines and serve their suspensions before being considered for reinstatement.
In response to accusations that the deal amounted to what Amnesty International described as part of the “onward march of Saudi sportswashing”, Pelley said: “We brought the Saudis into the game in 2018 and we had no challenge with what they were trying to do (with the Saudi International).
“The challenge that we had is that they were playing outside the ecosystem (with LIV) and outside of the global professional golf infrastructure, and now they are playing inside it, and I’m energised by the fact that the PIF (Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund) and the PGA Tour will both be working closely with the DP World Tour to grow our tour and grow it for our members.”
The announcement will lead to a “mutually-agreed” end to all pending litigation between the various organisations.
An anti-trust lawsuit against the PGA Tour was originally filed last August by 11 golfers before being taken over by LIV Golf. It was due to be heard in 2024.
PIF will initially be the exclusive investor in the new entity and have the right of first refusal on any capital to be invested.
The PGA Tour will appoint a majority of the board and hold a majority voting interest in the combined entity, with PIF’s governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan the chairman and Monahan the CEO.
Pelley said he had “every confidence” that the DP World Tour would have a seat on the full board when it is finalised but admitted it was too early to tell exactly what the merger would mean for its 2024 schedule, due to be released next month.
Reaction to the merger from rank-and-file members of the PGA Tour was not positive, with Wesley Bryan writing on Twitter: “I feel betrayed, and will not be able to trust anyone within the corporate structure of the PGA TOUR for a very long time.”
Former BMW PGA Championship winner Ben An wrote: “Win-win for both tours but it’s a big lose for who defended the tour for last two years.”
McIlroy and Woods emerged as the biggest defenders of the PGA Tour and both had called for LIV CEO Greg Norman to step down before there could be any chance of peace talks.
Norman’s name was conspicuously absent from the announcement of the merger, while defending champion McIlroy is due to speak to the media on Wednesday ahead of the RBC Canadian Open.
Norman later wrote on Twitter: “A great day in global golf for players and fans alike. The journey continues!!”
The 2022 season could not have gone much better for Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Alek Manoah.
The 2023 season, meanwhile, could not have started much worse for the struggling right-hander.
The Blue Jays sent Manoah to the rookie-level Florida Complex League on Tuesday, one day after he managed to get just one out in an 11-4 loss to the Houston Astros.
The 25-year-old has been a major disappointment this season after finishing third in AL Cy Young Award balloting in 2022 and earning a selection to the All-Star Game.
Through 58 innings and 13 starts this year, Manoah has surrendered 45 runs - 10 fewer runs than he permitted all of 2022 in 196 2/3 innings.
He's 1-7 with a 6.36 ERA this year after going 16-7 with a 2.24 ERA in 31 starts last season. As a rookie in 2021, he was 9-2 with a 3.22 ERA in 20 starts.
Among the 96 players in the majors with at least 50 innings pitched this season, Manoah's ERA is the ninth highest while his 1.90 WHIP is second worst.
This is after he compiled the fourth-lowest ERA and 10th-lowest WHIP (0.99), among all qualifying MLB pitchers in 2022.
His latest outing was the shortest out of 64 career starts.
Manoah faced nine Astros and got just one out, allowing six runs and seven hits - including a grand slam - while walking one.
He'll now be working at one of the lowest minor league levels.
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