Scott Van Pelt: 'No one knew' about LIV Golf, PGA Tour merger

The golf world was left stunned Tuesday morning as the rival PGA Tour and LIV Golf tours announced plans to merge. It also, apparently, surprised some players who opted not to leave the PGA Tour for LIV as both sides kept talks close to the vest.

The move is polarizing for a few reasons considering the tense relationship between the two sides. That’s why ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt said the decision was so stunning, and it was even more surprising that seemingly no one knew it was coming.

“What does this mean for these PGA Tour guys who were told last summer, ‘Hey, no, fellas. Don’t take this money. Be loyal to the Tour. That’s bad money. You don’t want to take that money,'” Van Pelt said on The Pat McAfee Show Tuesday after the news dropped. “And then, you wake up one Tuesday on Twitter and find out, ‘Wait up. They took the money?’ How does that work? It’s really dodgy because, Pat, no one knew. And I’m talking — think of any player you can think of. Who’s the players you can think of? Think of that player. … He didn’t know.”

Although the press release was a shock, Van Pelt noted how hard it is to keep something of that nature quiet. Players on the PGA Tour were outspoken about how little they knew about the situation. However, Van Pelt noted PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and Public Investment Fund Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan went on CNBC right after the announcement went public.

That’s why he said the decision didn’t come out of nowhere. Some people clearly knew about it. Those people just don’t play on the PGA Tour, although Van Pelt hadn’t yet talked to the biggest name in the game by the time he spoke with McAfee.

“If you’re telling me at the absolute highest levels of the PGA Tour that no one knew — and I believe them,” Van Pelt said. “Like, the guys I talked to today, I promise you, didn’t know. I haven’t talked to Tiger [Woods], so I don’t know for a fact that he didn’t know. But I don’t think anyone knew. And that’s mind-boggling to me, because it’s hard to keep secrets. It’s really, really tough to keep stuff inside.

“Somebody obviously knew because they were on CNBC this morning. So they didn’t just wake up and roll out of bed and say, ‘Hey, what do you guys want to do today? Well, how about we merge?'”