The PGA Tour LIV Golf merger has been revealed but what does it all mean? Jack Holden takes a look at the ramifications.

Jay Monahan’s change of heart was a surprising turnaround not seen since Michael Corleone joined the family business.

Although a financial windfall for the PGA, it’s a public relations disaster that I doubt Jay Monahan will survive.

Based on “the information I had at the time”, his plea for understanding falls as flat as Tessio’s plea to the Godfather’s minions before he was carted away.

The Saudis decided that future equity saves face and makes them a player in another major sport.

Over time, the deal will be regarded as a massive win for the PGA – at least financially – but may take decades to heal its image, which up until now was the choir boy of major sports.

Despite the early hubris and somersaults on Twitter by Phil Mickelson and Greg Norman, they only showed how clueless they’ve been. They were as unaware of the deal as everyone else.

Norman is out, Phil, Brooks Koepka, and others will have some money clawed back, and the LIV tour and team golf are dead.

Don’t know if anyone noted the irony of the deal – confirmation by both parties that the deal was concluded during a round of golf – reminiscent of an earlier betrayal on the Senate floor in ancient Rome.

There are still many hurdles ahead for the deal, not the least the regulatory bodies and probably the Department of Justice.

But Michael Corleone survived more dangerous investigations, so there’s hope for Team LIV-PGA and Jay Monahan. But that was a script written by Hollywood’s best.

In conclusion, I’m not sure the new team grasps the unfortunate timing of their announcement, one week before the US Open when all the stars had been aligned for the war to play out where it should have, on the golf course and the winning side determined by the viewing public.

But as the great bard of the past declared, the problem’s not with the stars. Nor the players, either.