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Good Friday morning, golf fans, as the fallout from wildest week in the sport’s history continues and day two of the Canadian Open gets underway.

1. 59 alert

From the Golf Channel digital team…”Michael Feagles made a left-to-right, curling 30-footer for birdie on his final hole Thursday to shoot 59 at the BMW Charity Pro-Am.”

• “It marked the ninth sub-60 round all time on the Korn Ferry Tour and the second this year.”

• “Mac Meissner shot 59 in April’s Lecom Suncoast Classic. Prior to that, no one had broken 60 on tour since 2017. The lowest score ever recorded on the KFT is a 58 by Stephan Jaeger at the 2016 Ellie Mae Classic.”

• “Feagles had never shot better than 64 in his KFT career, which includes 33 previous starts.”

2. On how Jimmy got it done

The AP’s Doug Ferguson…”It was Dunne and Ed Herlihy, chairman of the PGA Tour policy board, whom Monahan leaned on to set his first meeting with Al-Rumayyan a short time after the Masters.”

• “They were the only PGA Tour principals involved in the deal that joins the commercial business of the PGA Tour, European tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund in a for-profit entity that for now goes by “Newco” — new company.”

• “I came to the table not being comfortable with criticism why we didn’t meet with them,” Dunne said. “If you look at what happened (with LIV), we never would have done anything they did. We never would have hired Greg Norman. We never would have him flying to an event in a parachute. We never would have done so many of these things.

• “What does that tell me? That I have no idea what they’re thinking,” Dunne said. “And when you have no idea what an adversary is thinking, I want to ask them, not their lawyers. I want to ask them directly.”

3. Too-early-to-tell winners and losers

From the team at Golf Digest…

Winner—Saudi Arabia: This is arguably a better outcome than LIV Golf succeeding on its own, for golf’s professional tours embracing the kingdom’s Public Investment Fund as a formal business partner—and thus allowing it into the sport’s political matrix—is exactly the aspiration at the heart of its Vision 2030 plan, a blueprint to help sell the ostracized country to the rest of the world. —Joel Beall

• Loser—Idealists: Those who billed this as a moral crusade against LIV and its questionable source of funding were reminded Tuesday that golf is ultimately run by capitalists. This, it turns out, wasn’t a battle of good vs. evil, but a clumsy courtship between two sides beholden to their bottom lines. —Sam Weinman

• Winner—Phil Mickelson: In the early portion of this saga, Mickelson had not only become a punchline, he had destroyed his own legacy. All the goodwill he built up with his remarkable PGA Championship win at age 50 at Kiawah Island was gone when he got in bed with the people he called “scary motherf—-ers.” But, as Mickelson proclaimed before all this chaos began, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reshape the sport and how the PGA Tour operates. Tuesday’s news all but confirmed Mickelson, among others, achieved exactly that. Of course, another way to look at it is that Mickelson brought those same scary MFers to the PGA Tour’s doorstep, which now seemingly taints the entire golf world at large. Then again, it appears Saudi Arabian influence can be found in more than a few places these days. Mickelson didn’t make this world, he just lives in it and takes advantage of it like the rest of us. Whether or not he can salvage his legacy remains to be seen, but at this very moment, #PhilWasRight. —Christopher Powers

4. Who is Jimmy Dunne, anyways?

Golf Digest’s Christopher Powers…”In basic bio terms, Dunne is the vice chairman and senior managing principal of Piper Sandler, an investment bank and financial services company heavily involved in mergers and acquisitions. He was one of the founders of Sandler O’Neill and Partners, which in January 2020 was acquired by Piper Jaffray. Dunne helped Sandler O’Neill grow into becoming one of the largest independent full-service investment banking firms, focusing on the financial-services sector. A graduate of Notre Dame and a Long Island, N.Y., native, he began his career on Wall Street and has risen to become a rather large deal in the financial world. He’s also an avid golfer, and his love of the sport not only played a role in saving his life… it led to him having a very important hand in what has transpired in the golf world this week.”

5. Meanwhile, on the PGA Tour…

ESPN report…”Corey Conners shot a bogey-free 5-under 67 on Thursday to share the first-round lead at the RBC Canadian Open, the first PGA Tour event since its announcement of unifying with Saudi-funded rival LIV Golf.”

• Conners is seeking to become the tournament’s first Canadian winner in 69 years. Also at 67 were Aaron Rai, Justin Lower and Chesson Hadley.

• Two-time defending champion Rory McIlroy opened with a 71 at Oakdale. Matt Fitzpatrick, who will seek to defend his U.S. Open title next week at Los Angeles Country Club, was one of nine players at 68.

6. First TGL team, ownership

Golfweek’s Adam Woodard…”The first of six team ownership groups for TGL has officially been announced.”

• “Los Angeles Golf Club (LAGC) will be the inaugural team of TGL, a “new tech-infused league” developed by Tiger Woods and Rory’s McIlroy’s TMRW Sports, which was announced last August. LAGC will be owned by Seven Seven Six (776) founder Alexis Ohanian, and joined by tennis stars Serena and Venus Williams.”

• “Ohanian, the creator of Reddit and Serena’s husband, is also the principal owner Los Angeles’ National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) team, Angel City FC.”

7. Ripple effects, questions

Lillian Rizzo for CNBC…”Despite those tensions being settled between the tour and LIV, they could be relevant when regulators comb over the deal.”

• “The commissioner’s statement that this is necessary to end all this tension leaves the question of what do we mean when we say tension? That could be from a competition angle, which is a good thing for pricing and consumers,” said Henry Hauser, a former FTC lawyer and currently an antitrust attorney at Perkins Coie. “It can also mean tension in the sense of a distraction.”

• “While the two organizations were feuding, golfers were divided between the PGA Tour and LIV. Some left for the hefty paychecks being doled out by LIV, even as they lost their endorsements. Others turned down big paydays to stay with the tour. Monahan has been outspoken in the past, saying he believed players would face “significant implications” for going to LIV. On Tuesday, he said he expected to be called a hypocrite and accepts the criticism.”

• “Since the announcement, several players have voiced their frustration with the deal. Sponsors, likewise, have been slow to make statements or decisions, likely waiting to see how the deal is structured and the regulatory process goes, according to two sponsors close to the tour.”

8. Rose: I’d be more concerned if I was on LIV

Paul Higham for Golf Monthly…”Justin Rose says it won’t be easy for some LIV Golf players to get back onto the PGA Tour, and would be more worried about the future from their perspective than players who stayed.”

• “Obviously playing Major championship golf was always the thing I could never give up. So I was kind of always very content,” Rose said of his decision to stay on the PGA Tour.

• “I’d probably be more concerned if I was on LIV right now than on the PGA Tour.”

• One thorny issue from the big merger news is that of LIV players returning to the PGA Tour, and Rose says that some form of sanctions or reintegration process will have to be sorted out.

• “We’re looking for a harmonious world of golf. This is what I think this is designed to achieve. That’s not going to be overnight,” Rose added.

• “Obviously there’s a lot of players that you guys want to watch play golf, who we know all know who they are on LIV. They got a lot to offer the game of golf. I think just because they made a certain decision doesn’t mean they’re outcasts forever.

• “I don’t know what the protocols will be, to be honest with you. I think there would be if it’s just a straight, hey, boys, come on back, that’s not going to sit well with anybody out here necessarily.

9. Photos from the Korn Ferry Tour

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

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Good Thursday morning, golf fans, as the fallout from wildest week in the sport’s history continues.

1. McIlroy: Hard for me not to feel…like a sacrificial lamb

Joel Beall for Golf Digest…“To those who sensed that McIlroy might be feeling betrayed after Tuesday’s stunning announcement between the tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, well, you’re right.”

• “It’s hard for me to not sit up here and feel somewhat like a sacrificial lamb and feeling like I’ve put myself out there and this is what happens.” McIlroy said Wednesday at the RBC Canadian Open.”

• “McIlroy, who spearheaded a player-led initiative that restructured and saved the PGA Tour, said he was not informed of the tour’s decision until Tuesday morning and that it wasn’t PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan who told him but PGA Tour board member Jimmy Dunne. When asked if he still had confidence in Monahan, McIlroy took a pause before responding, “I do.”

• “I’ve dealt with Jay a lot closer than a lot of those guys have. From where we were a couple of weeks ago to where we are today, I think the future of the PGA Tour looks brighter as a whole, as an entity,” McIlroy said. “What that looks like for individual players in terms of keeping a tour card and bringing players back into the fold and then that sacrifices other people, that’s where the anger comes from, right. And I understand that.”

2. McIlroy hopes LIV goes away, offers support for Monahan

ESPN’s Mark Schlabach…”I still hate LIV,” McIlroy said. “Like, I hate LIV. I hope it goes away, and I would fully expect that it does. I think that’s where the distinction here is. This is the PGA Tour, the DP World Tour and the PIF — very different from LIV.”

• “McIlroy, one of the PGA Tour’s most outspoken loyalists during its 18-month battle with the LIV Golf tour for the best players in the world, said he still has confidence in PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan but that “it’s hard for me to not sit up here and feel somewhat like a sacrificial lamb and feeling like I’ve put myself out there and this is what happens.”

• “Monahan has been criticized for keeping PGA Tour members, including McIlroy, in the dark during negotiations with Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, which is financing LIV Golf.”

• “I do,” McIlroy said about having confidence in Monahan. “And, look, I’ve dealt with Jay a lot closer than a lot of those guys have. From where we were a couple of weeks ago to where we are today, I think the future of the PGA Tour looks brighter as a whole, as an entity.”

3. Monahan on “hypocrisy” and lack of transparency

Monahan on his lack of transparency…“There’s no question that yesterday was a setback, and I’ve had setbacks before and in terms of rebuilding the trust it begins with having conversation like I had through the night last night and being here in the morning and talking to players and explaining to them this deal and how this is a great outcome for every PGA Tour member and the game. I don’t expect everybody to understand right off the bat. I think this is going to take some time but when you look out over the horizon I’m entirely confident when I talk to our players that this is where I’m going to take them. That’s essentially where we are right now.

• “The PGA Tour is in a control position. We have a lot of flexibility in our business. We have an opportunity through productive capital to reinvest in our Tour and our membership and reinvest in our game. When anyone looks 3, 5, 10 years down the road, I’m confident that those results will be delivered.”

Monahan on ‘owning his hypocrisy’

• “I understand the criticism I’m receiving around the hypocrisy and me being hypocritical given my commentary and my actions over the last couple of years. As we went forward and reached a compromise, that was one of my great considerations. Any hypocrisy I have to own, nobody else. That’s on me. It shouldn’t be directed at the membership, that’s on me. As we sit here today, I’m confident we did the best thing for the game and the best thing for all of our members.”

4. More on the player meeting

Via Golf Channel’s Brentley Romine…“People would be more open to it if it were this conversation two years ago before all the s— started,” said the anonymous player. “The Tour messed up in the beginning and took such a hard stance. … To go back on his words literally a year later after making all these changes. Honestly, the PGA Tour is in a good spot with all the designated events and the changes. But I also think the litigation is the real reason [for the merger]. … I think LIV was going to be perfectly fine dragging out the court case. There’s a lot of stuff.”

• “And even after one of the spiciest player meetings in Tour history, there are still many questions.”

• “Appearing later Tuesday night on a live stream hosted by Monday Q Info’s Ryan French, Bryan was asked by French if he felt any better after leaving the meeting.”

• “No,” Bryan answered, with little hesitation, “but there’s nobody in that situation – when you get completely blindsided by someone that’s been saying one thing for the last year and a half and all a sudden the script get 180 degrees flipped, there’s nobody that’s going to stand up in 45 minutes, or however long he spoke for, and is going to change anybody’s opinion on the matter.”

• “Wagner felt that Monahan “kept his calm and his cool,” with the commissioner even admitting at one point that he had not been transparent in this instance.”

5. No suspended players at Ryder Cup?

Golf Channel’s Ryan Lavner…”In a memo to players Wednesday, DP World Tour chief executive Keith Pelley reiterated that the joint commitment between his circuit, the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund doesn’t change the short-term prospects of the LIV players who resigned their European tour membership last month.”

• “Nine players resigned their membership May 3 because of sanctions they faced after an arbitration panel sided with the European tour: Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, Henrik Stenson, Sergio Garcia, Paul Casey, Richard Bland, Martin Kaymer, Dean Burmester and Paul Casey. Pelley said in the letter that any fines and suspensions imposed remain in effect.”

• “….Pelley used the same verbiage – “difficult and highly unlikely” – to describe the likelihood that any of those players could be reinstated and join the European Ryder Cup team later this year.”

6. Loyalists will be rewarded

Golf Channel’s Ryan Lavner…”Jay Monahan promised Wednesday that the superstars who rejected offers from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund to remain loyal to the Tour will be compensated in some fashion.”

• “He just doesn’t yet know how.”

• “Their loyalty will be rewarded,” Monahan said Wednesday in an interview on “Golf Today”.

• “I’m going to spend every single waking hour as we move forward here, we finalize this agreement and we move into the future, that the players that have created the PGA Tour, have created this pro-competitive, legacy-driven juggernaut, that have articulated and supported the direction that we’re going on – ultimately, the decision we made, I believe, is going to make it better for all of our players, and loyalty, ultimately, as a leader, always needs to be rewarded.

• “How that manifests itself is something I’m going to spend a lot of time working on. And I think when we’re having this conversation down the road, that’s something I look forward to being more specific about.”

7. Norman: LIV will continue

ESPN’s Bob Harig…”Norman, who was not mentioned in any of the news releases associated with the agreement between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and Public Investment Fund that was announced Tuesday, told more than 100 people on a 30-minute call that LIV will see no operational changes and that work is already being done on a 2025 schedule.”

• “The spigot is now wide open for commercial sponsorships, blue-chip companies, TV networks,” Norman said according to a person on the call who wished not to be identified.”

• “LIV is and will continue to be a standalone enterprise. Our business model will not change. We changed history and we’re not going anywhere.”

8. Shackelford’s conclusion

Literally and figuratively the final paragraphs of his Quad column…”The major championship organizations also must feel more secure knowing they draw larger audiences and have history as an eternal draw for players and fans. They’ll still face pressures due to the PGA Tour mismanaging the threat at every turn and showing a willingness to sell out. But unlike Monahan’s Tour taking their eye off the ball so regularly, the USGA, R&A, Augusta National and PGA of America have certainly not morphed into marketing machines oblivious to their missions.”

• “For some time it’s been pretty clear that the “player run” Tour cannot be trusted to do what’s best for anything but 200 golfers and 200 Vice Presidents. Partners like the LPGA Tour and networks have taken a back seat to self interests at every turn. Tuesday’s monumental and gross news only reaffirms how the new pro golf entity should not be entrusted with decisions of substance that might influence a sport played by 70 million people worldwide.”

• “Because a glorious and thriving game that has been played for centuries will carry on tomorrow even if His Excellency grows bored and shuts it all down. And for those saddened by the PGA Tour acquiescing, just think of the coming comedy. Giant egos will be squashed, grave dancers who rejoiced Tuesday will get egg on their face, raging hypocrites will be exposed, and unexpected bright spots will help us appreciate the good people unfairly caught up in this mess.”

9. Just like Tiger