For comments: ben.alberstadt@golfwrx.com

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!