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Good Friday morning, golf fans, as day two of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am gets underway.

1. Detry leads, Cantlay lurks at Pebble Beach

AP Report…” Patrick Cantlay has spent about as much time on the phone as the golf course this week as a PGA Tour board member trying to nail down a deal for a $3 billion investment. It didn’t seem to affect his day job at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

• “On a surprising day of weather when umbrellas gave way to sunglasses, Cantlay saved par five times and had eight birdies at Spyglass Hill for an 8-under 64 that left him one shot behind Thomas Detry of Belgium.”

• “Detry worked his own short-game magic at the end, chipping in from thick, damp rough for birdie on the 18th at Spyglass to finish with three straight birdies and a 63. Torrey Pines winner Matthieu Pavon had the best round at Pebble Beach, closing with four birdies over the last five holes for a 65.”

2. Player reactions to SSG deal

Golf Channel’s Rex Hoggard…“Reactions from players to the PGA Tour’s announcement on Wednesday that it had reached an agreement to make Strategic Sports Group an investor into the circuit’s new for-profit arm were predictably mixed.”

• “For those who have been involved in the negotiations with SSG, which is led by Fenway Sports, the news of a $1.5 billion investment was historic and a reason to celebrate.”

• …”There were also those who were concerned with the lack of details as well as lingering distrust towards the Tour’s leadership following last June’s framework agreement with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which was negotiated in private…”

• “Most players, however, were willing to take a wait-and-see approach to the deal with SSG as well as a potential deal with the PIF and the likelihood of intensified scrutiny from federal regulators.”

3. Norman: LIV full steam ahead

Ryan Lavner for Golf Channel…“In a letter to LIV employees, obtained by Golf Channel, Norman boasted the strength of the rival league and suggested that the Tour’s additional funding wouldn’t have happened without LIV’s arrival…”

• “Let me make one thing very clear: nothing announced by other tours or investment groups changes LIV Golf’s positive trajectory or future plans,” Norman wrote in the memo.

• “Golf is now viewed as an asset class. We proved this was possible and are now in a unique position to mold and drive this incredible growth opportunity. This broader interest and commitment to the game, and investment in its future, would not have happened without the emergence of LIV Golf as an innovative force in the golf ecosystem.”

4. FAQs on SSG deal

Golf Digest rounded up some FAQ’s, such as…

• What is PGA Tour Enterprises?…”Officially, it’s an entity that houses the PGA Tour’s commercial businesses and rights, as well as those of the DP World Tour. Which is a fancy way of saying, it’s a division that’s meant to maximize revenue for the tours and their players.”

• “The $3 billion will be funneled here while allowing the tour to keep its non-profit 501(c)(6) classification that carries tax exemptions for “business leagues, chambers of commerce, real estate boards, boards of trade, and professional football leagues.” Initially, PIF was expected to infuse, at minimum, another $1 billion into PGA Tour Enterprises, and LIV Golf would be folded under the Enterprises umbrella as well. The tour says PGA Tour Enterprises has a valuation of $12 billion.”

5. Cash infusion, new sponsor for USWO

Madeline MacClurg for Golf Digest…”The USGA announced that Ally Financial will become the presenting partner for the U.S. Women’s Open and the purse for this year will be the largest in women’s golf at $12 million. Ally also will be a founding partner of the U.S. National Development program. The partnership comes almost a year after the USGA parted ways with ProMedica, the former U.S. Women’s Open presenting sponsor.”

• “Ally also announced that it reached an endorsement deal with Lilia Vu, the California native who is the current World No. 1 and captured two LPGA major championships in 2023.”

6. Spieth doesn’t think a PIF deal is necessary

Golf Digest’s Dave Shedloski…”Jordan Spieth, a member of the PGA Tour Policy Board that approved the agreement with SSG, flatly said on Wednesday at Pebble Beach Golf Links, “I don’t think that it’s needed,” referring to a deal with PIF.”

• “I think the positive [of a deal with PIF] would be a unification [of PGA Tour and LIV players], but I just think it’s something that is almost not even worth talking about right this second,” said Spieth, who assumed a seat on the board vacated late last year by Rory McIlroy. “The idea is that we have a strategic partner that allows the PGA Tour to go forward the way that it’s operating right now without anything else.”

7. “Any shot, anytime”

Golfweek’s Adam Woodard…”A new multi-year agreement with Google Cloud and PMY will allow LIV Golf fans to watch any player live during a tournament broadcast.”

• “The partnership deal was announced on Thursday morning just one day before the league begins its 2024 season at Mayakoba’s El Camaleón Golf Course in Mexico.”

• “LIV’s new “Any Shot, Any Time” feature will launch later this summer on its LIV Golf Plus app, where “fans will be able to select exactly which golfers, teams, or groups they want to watch at any given time, as well as searchable and customizable on-demand highlight reels from any round of any LIV tournament.” Fans will be able to watch as many as four windows at once within the app.”

8. Bryson: “I hope at some point we’ll come back together”

BBC report…”Former US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau says a merger between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf “needs to happen” to bring the sport “back together”…”

• “We’re just going to continue down our own roads and how it all integrates and comes together is something to be seen,” said American DeChambeau, 30, who joined LIV last summer.

• “I hope at some point we’ll come back together. It needs to happen. I hope people can just put down their weapons and come to the table and figure it out.

• “As time goes on, I think things will settle down in a positive way for both.”

9. AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am photos

• Check out all of our galleries from this week’s event!

For comments: [email protected]

Good Thursday morning, golf fans, as day one of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am gets underway.

1. PGA Tour strikes private equity deal

Jack Bantock for CNN…”Rocked by the money on offer by LIV Golf and the talent drain of some of its leading players, the PGA Tour is offering its golfers the opportunity to become “owners of their league.”

• “Announcing the launch of PGA Tour Enterprises on Wednesday, the PGA Tour said a “first-of-its kind” program will offer its players the opportunity to become equity holders.”

• “Funded through an investment of up to $3 billion from Strategic Sports Group (SSG), a consortium of American sports teams owners led by Fenway Sports Group (FSG), the almost 200 Tour members would collectively be able to receive over $1.5 billion in equity.”

• “The grants, available only to qualified PGA Tour players, would be based on career accomplishments, recent achievement, future participation and services and PGA Tour membership status, according to a press release from the PGA Tour.”

2. …more

ESPN’s Mark Schlabach…”Fenway Sports Group, which owns the Red Sox, Liverpool FC and Pittsburgh Penguins, will serve as a commercial adviser to PGA Tour Enterprises.”

• “The PGA Tour is continuing its negotiations to finalize an agreement with the Public Investment Fund and the DP World Tour, which would potentially inject additional billions of dollars into PGA Tour Enterprises, sources said. The tour said it is making progress in its ongoing negotiations with PIF on a “potential future investment and both parties are working towards an ultimate agreement.”

• “The PGA Tour, DP World Tour and PIF signed a framework agreement in June to combine their commercial assets, including the LIV Golf League. The agreement had a Dec. 31 deadline, which was extended as the sides continued to hammer out final details. Monahan and PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan reportedly met in Saudi Arabia last week.”

3. What it means

Yahoo’s Jay Busbee…”As it stands, the full collection of the world’s greatest players will meet only four times a year — at the majors, assuming LIV’s finest are eligible — and the PGA Tour’s Wednesday announcement of outside investment from a consortium of professional sports team owners (the Strategic Sports Group) will do nothing to change that.”

• “The SSG investment into the PGA Tour means, in broad terms, that the players who have stayed loyal to the Tour are about to get richer. The Tour itself gets an infusion of cash to help fund purses that have grown significantly since the Saudi-funded LIV Golf entered the scene two years ago.”

• “But the SSG investment does nothing to bridge the gap between the two tours. Left unstated in the release touting SSG’s investment is the state of negotiations between the PGA Tour and the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund, LIV’s financial backer, aside from one cryptic line: “The transaction announced [Wednesday] allows for a co-investment from the Public Investment Fund in the future, subject to all necessary regulatory approvals.”

4. Full Swing season 2 release date

Golfweek’s Riley Hamel…”The second season of “Full Swing,” the Netflix show to goes behind the scenes of the PGA Tour and LIV Golf League, will be released on March 6, 2024.”

• “During the inaugural episodes, cameras followed Justin Thomas at the PGA Championship, Matt Fitzpatrick at the U.S. Open and Rory McIlroy at the Tour Championship.”

• “Judging by the release image posted by the PGA Tour’s Twitter/X account Wednesday, McIlroy, Thomas and Fitzpatrick will be back in the mix alongside Rickie Fowler, Joel Dahmen, Keegan Bradley, Tom Kim, Luke Donald and Wyndham Clark.”

5. Morikawa: How to improve golf broadcasts? Show more shots

Our Matt Vincenzi…”The TV coverage on the PGA Tour is often put on blast on social media, and ahead of this week’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, one of the game’s biggest stars, Collin Morikawa, offered some advice on how the product could be improved.”

• Speaking to media in California, Morikawa said:

• “Well, I mean, you first need to see more golf shots. Like that’s like — that’s like the No. 1 bullet point. How do I make it more interesting? That’s a great one. Hit better shots, stop hitting — stop playing so poorly.

• “Look, golf isn’t — like golf’s not going to be as high speed, you know, body contact, people tackling. Like that’s just golf, right? But I think most fans understand that and we can’t — like I’m not going to go dance down the fairway or celebrate differently on a birdie putt on the sixth hole on Friday. But just seeing birdie putts and seeing more shots, that’s going to bring more viewers in because you can actually watch golf, right?”

6. Pebble Beach photos

• Check out all of our galleries from this week’s event!