Golf's civil war is over less than a year after it began.

Driving the news: The PGA Tour and LIV Golf, the Saudi-backed breakaway tour that launched on June 9 of last year, agreed to merge on Tuesday in a deal that left the sports world gobsmacked.

Why it matters: The agreement halts ugly litigation that embroiled the two tours and puts the PGA in the awkward spot of merging with the same entity it has been trashing for human rights abuses and a negative impact on the sport.

Details: LIV's financial backer, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), will be the leading investor in the combined entity, with PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan serving as chairman and PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan as CEO.

• PIF, which has over $600 billion in assets, will invest more money into the new venture, which also includes the DP World Tour (European Tour) and has yet to be named.
• The PGA Tour, a nonprofit that generates ~$1.5 billion in revenue, will appoint a majority of the board of directors that will oversee the new entity's commercial operations.

The backdrop: The news surprised everyone, from the PGA Tour's TV partners ("We just learned about this") to the players themselves. "Nothing like finding out through Twitter that we're merging with a tour that we said we'd never do that with," Mackenzie Hughes tweeted.

What they're saying: "So weird. PGA officials were in my office just months ago talking about how the Saudis' human rights record should disqualify them from having a stake in a major American sport," Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) tweeted. "I guess maybe their concerns weren't really about human rights?"

• "I recognize that people are going to call me a hypocrite," said Monahan, who had previously shot down the idea of a merger and urged players to consider the source of the money.
• Fast-forward a year: "We just realized that we were better off together than we were fighting or apart," Monahan said Tuesday, adding that the two sides had been in talks for about seven weeks. Hours after the news broke, he held a heated meeting with players.

Behind the scenes: The PGA Tour and LIV have each spent tens of millions of dollars battling in court, with LIV filing an antitrust lawsuit and the PGA countersuing.

• The proceedings would have likely dragged out for months, if not years, and neither side wanted to share secrets via discovery.
• "Both had an incentive to settle," Richard Sheehan, a Notre Dame professor who specializes in the economics of sports, told ESPN.

What's next: The two tours will continue as separate entities for the rest of this season, with the PGA Tour in Canada this week and LIV in Spain later this month. Both will have players at next week's U.S. Open in Los Angeles.

• After that, it's anybody's guess what this new entity will actually look like come 2024.
• Unanswered questions include: Will LIV's team golf concept live on? Will the PGA Tour give LIV defectors their cards back? Will players who turned down LIV money be compensated?

What to watch: Rory McIlroy, who reportedly turned down $500 million to join LIV and has spent the past year defending the PGA Tour, is scheduled to speak to the media after his 7am ET pro-am today ahead of the Canadian Open.

The buzz:

• Scott Van Pelt, ESPN: "So, you preach loyalty to a tour and convince guys not to take 8 and 9 figure deals based, in part, on that loyalty and, in part, on the source of the money. Then those guys find out on Twitter YOU took the very same money?"
• Former President Trump: "Great news from LIV Golf. A big, beautiful, and glamorous deal for the wonderful world of golf. Congrats to all!!!"
• Brandel Chamblee, Golf Network: "I think this is one of the saddest days in the history of professional golf. I do believe the governing bodies … have sacrificed their principles for profit."
• Joel Beall, Golf Digest: "The thing I keep going back to is this: Rory McIlroy took a stand for what he believed was right — which brought an invisible pain and weight that can't be measured — and was sold out by the very thing he was trying to defend."
• Michael Rosenberg, SI: "PGA Tour players are stunned, confused, and angry. Understandable. But soon they will realize: In one move, Jay Monahan brought in billions and killed LIV Golf."

Go deeper:

• Read: 15 lingering questions (Golf Digest)
• Watch: CNBC announcement (YouTube)
• Listen: The Great Merge (No Laying Up)

Oklahoma and Florida State are the last teams standing at the Women's College World Series, and their best-of-three championship begins tonight in Oklahoma City, Axios' Jeff Tracy writes.

Why it matters: Oklahoma has won a record 51 straight games (!!!) and is two wins away from joining UCLA (1988-90) as the only programs to three-peat as national champs.

State of play: This is a rematch of the 2021 finals, which Oklahoma won in three games.

• Oklahoma (59-1): They'll seek their seventh title behind an offense that leads the nation in HR, AVG, OBP and SLG, and a pitching staff whose ERA (0.98) ranks first by a mile. They also lead the nation in fielding percentage because of course they do.
• Florida State (58-9): The Seminoles' bats are solid, but it's their pitching and small ball that sets them apart. The 2018 champs have the fourth-best ERA and steal the third-most bases per game among major conference teams.

Between the lines: Softball has grown astronomically in the three decades since the Bruins' three-peat, and offenses — especially Oklahoma's — have become far more potent.

• UCLA (1988-90): 163-19 record, .280 BA, 3.7 runs per game, 25 HR, 3 national championships
• Oklahoma (2021-2023): 174-8 record, .382 BA, 9.4 runs per game, 431 HR, 2 national championships (so far)

Another day, another devastating development regarding a generational, 34-year-old righty, Jeff writes.

Driving the news: Jacob deGrom, who's been on the IL since April 29, will undergo Tommy John surgery for the second time in his career after an MRI on Tuesday revealed a torn ulnar collateral ligament.

Why it matters: DeGrom's spate of injuries dating back to 2021 had already threatened to derail his career. Now, the Rangers' $185 million ace won't return until at least the middle of next season, when he'll be 36.

The backdrop: Since his 2014 MLB debut, the Mets' 2010 ninth-rounder has been among the game's best. And for a while, he was the picture of health.

• He went on the IL just three times between 2014, when he won Rookie of the Year, and 2020, the season after winning his second straight Cy Young.
• But since May 2021, deGrom has spent far more time on the IL than off of it, as a laundry list of injuries have limited him to just 26 starts.
• Wild stat: He hasn't made more than 15 starts in a season since 2019.

By the numbers: DeGrom is one of four pitchers since World War II with a career ERA (2.53) below 2.60 (min. 1,000 IP).

• The other three: Mariano Rivera (2.21), Clayton Kershaw (2.50) and Hoyt Wilhelm (2.52).
• Plus: His 5.38 strikeout-to-walk ratio is the best ever and his 0.993 WHIP ranks second.

The bottom line: Two years ago, deGrom was on a path to being a surefire first-ballot Hall of Famer. Now, he's been felled by yet another injury — a brutal blow for the AL West-leading Rangers.

🎾 The stage is set: Novak Djokovic beat Karen Khachanov in four sets and Carlos Alcaraz beat Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets to set up a must-see French Open semifinal duel.

⚾️ .401 in June: Luis Arráez had two more hits on Tuesday to raise his average to .401. The Marlins star now has 26 games this season with multiple hits and zero games with multiple strikeouts.

🏀 Aces stay perfect: The defending champion Aces still haven't lost this season, improving to 7-0 after beating the second-place Sun, 90-84, in a rematch of last year's WNBA Finals.

🎰 A's stadium in flux: A special legislative session will be held this morning in Nevada to discuss the A's ballpark bill, which in the past week has reportedly gone from a "done deal" to a "maybe."

New York City had the worst air quality of any city on Earth on Tuesday due to wildfires in Quebec, Canada. The Yankees played anyway, losing 3-2 to the White Sox amid a layer of haze.

I'm at my childhood home in Summit, N.J., and can confirm the sky looks crazy. But not nearly as apocalyptic as San Francisco in September 2020 — also due to wildfires.

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — It's still weird seeing Aaron Rodgers in a Jets helmet.

LE MANS, France — A look at the field of entries ahead of this weekend's 24 Hours of Le Mans.

PARIS — Fans take in the action at Roland Garros.

The Heat host the Nuggets tonight (8:30pm, ABC) in Game 3 of the NBA Finals as the series shifts to sea level.

• Of note: The Heat have been outscored by 24 points during the first three quarters this postseason but are +90 in the fourth quarter.
• Lines: Spread: DEN -2.5 | O/U 214.5 | Money: DEN -150, MIA +126 (via Caesars)

More to watch:

• 🥎 WCWS: No. 1 Oklahoma vs. No. 3 FSU (8pm, ESPN) … Game 1 in best-of-three finals.
• 🎾 Tennis: French Open (5am, Tennis) … Quarterfinals.
• ⚾️ MLB: Astros at Blue Jays (7pm, MLB.TV free game)
• ⚽️ NWSL Challenge Cup: Gotham FC vs. Orlando Pride (7:30pm, CBSSN)

Source: Giphy

In Italy, it's okay to play with your food, Jeff writes.

State of play: Every year at the food festival in the Tuscan mountaintop town of Volterra, eight competitors participate in the Palio dei Caci.

• Representatives from each of Volterra's eight districts race down a steep hill, using a wooden mallet to guide a large wheel of sheep's milk cheese through an obstacle course.
• The winner's prize, of course, is the cheese. Palio dei Caci translates simply as "cheese prize."

The backdrop: The event's origins are perfectly Italian. Local legend says that in the Middle Ages, farmers ascended the mountain to sell their wares in the market, and the bumpy roads often caused items to fall out of their carts.

• Upon seeing this, children would gleefully chase down and eat the cheese.

🇮🇹 Watch: Tuscany's cheese-rolling competition (YouTube)

LIV Golf has 12 team names. Which of the following is NOT one of them?

• 4Aces
• Cleeks
• Crushers
• Fireballs
• FlagHunters
• HyFlyers
• Iron Heads
• Majesticks
• RangeGoats
• Ripper
• Smash
• Stinger
• Torque

Answer at the bottom.

Reviewers are raving about the experience of watching sports on Vision Pro, Apple's new mixed reality headset.

What they're saying: Here's Stratechery's Ben Thompson, who got to demo some virtual reality sports clips…

There was one clip of an NBA basketball game that was incredibly realistic: the game clip was shot from the baseline, and as someone who has had the good fortune to sit courtside, it felt exactly the same.

It turns out that one reason for the immersion is that Apple actually created its own cameras to capture the game using its new Apple Immersive Video Format.

The company was fairly mum about how it planned to make those cameras and its format more widely available, but I am completely serious when I say that I would pay the NBA thousands of dollars to get a season pass to watch games captured in this way.