The structure of the PGA Tour’s merger with Saudi Arabia’s PIF raises a key question: Who exactly is in charge?

With the initial shock of the merger of the PGA Tour with DP World Tour and the Saudi Public Investment Fund finally starting to wane, a flurry of yellow lights is flashing from those reporting the lawsuit. antitrust questions whether the merger will happen. An even bigger question: Given the complex structure of the new organization that will effectively run non-professional golf tournaments at the highest level, who exactly will be held accountable?

PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan will serve as CEO of the new for-profit organization that will head the trio of PGA Tour, DP World Tour and LIV Golf. However, PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan will chair a panel that includes an executive committee of his own, Monahan, Jimmy Dunne and Ed Herlihy. The latter two are PGA Tour executives who, according to Monahan, brokered the entire deal. The rest of the table will be filled in at a later date.

There are currently two ways of looking at how power will be consolidated in the new entity.

PIF will act as the sole external investor in this new entity. It also reserves the right of first refusal on all potential future investments. So just follow the money. While the PGA Tour will have a majority of the board members and a majority of voting rights on this as-yet-unformed board, who provides the money will make the decisions, right? Again, that’s not necessarily how it will turn out, but it’s a consideration.

Al-Rumayyan is a fascinating figure who has a wealth of businesses and sports organizations around the world, including serving as chairman of Newcastle United FC. This excellent profile his depiction of a man with perhaps too much to do to really get deeply involved in anything but the biggest decisions of this new company.

However, those are the biggest decisions that matter most and Al-Rumayyan is clearly obsessed with golf. Although he was not involved in the minutiae of Newcastle, here is how a source in that article credited his involvement: “The one who pays the flute player will call the tune.”

That is more or less How LIV Golf Camp is drawing the future.

However, the Saudis have long sought influence, not management. PIF’s goal is to help the Saudis gain a foothold in major professional sports, especially those of international stature. They don’t want to actually run the program. This is probably naive, but it could well be true. Again, Al-Rumayyan is a busy man. He is the chairman of the state-owned Saudi oil company, Aramco, and serves on the boards of other companies such as Uber. He is one of Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman’s most trusted advisors. This is not a man capable of crushing tee time or even corporate sponsors.

Once again, the PGA Tour is retaining much of its board, and one of the four people working on the deal, Dunne, was adamant about the Tour staying in power in an interview with Golf Channel on Thursday.

“We will establish a [new company] it’s in the preliminary stages, but we’ll be looking for opportunities,” Dunne said. “In those opportunities, the Tour will always maintain control, 100%, no matter what’s in it. Now, they, such as PIF, have done a pretty good job of being minority investors in many great companies that have done a lot of good and brought huge financial benefits. So they understand and they have no problem, assuming they agree with the manager running it, to make minority investments.

“Although I like the people I’ve dealt with, the game of golf is too important. The legacy of the PGA Tour is too important. The people we have have so much experience that we don’t want, don’t need. There’s no way on God’s Green Earth that we’ll give up control. I don’t know what else to say.”

Dunne stressed that he feels his side can move on at any point in the negotiations, saying he feels satisfied where it all has landed. It’s impossible to predict how things will play out, but the idea that Dunne and Herlihy are better suited to make the deal than Monahan isn’t outrageous. Herlihy is a partner in one of the preeminent law firms in the world, and Dunne has been a renowned investment banker for decades.

“I mean, I’ve done a few trades,” Dunne said. “I understand something about control. Ed Herlihy, managing partner at Wachtell Lipton, I think he understands something about control.”

Even if Al-Rumayyan decides to put his thumbs on the scale more often than expected, it may not be the worst thing in the world for business.

“I think he’s really into golf,” Rory McIlroy said on Thursday. “He loves playing it. He’s a very impressive man. Harvard Business School. Running [$700 billion to $800 billion] dollars and invested in lots of different companies. He’s a very intelligent, impressive man.”

It’s not yet clear if anyone involved had in mind fans or pro-golf supporters. So while it’s positive for players that all top level participants want to make a lot of money (and in the case of PIFmaybe demand to make a lot of money), whether this will actually benefit the game and its future remains to be seen.

What’s even more unclear is how Al-Rumayyan’s boss, MBS, will get involved. His reputation precedes him, and although Al-Rumayyan is often referred to as kingpin in all of this, he is – like many other allies of MBS – extremely spendable.

“He works for a guy,” indicate a source in that sports article. “He has a lot of money and can do what he wants. But he is a courtier.”

There’s a lot more to be worked out. The details of the new company relationship, how the PGA Tour, LIV Golf and DP World Tour will interact, how much money the PIF will invest in the new business, who will fill the seats on the new board, whether the Tour can keep its 503(c)(6) status, whether the agreement will pass the antitrust test. Not to mention questions like: Does PIF require multiple Tour events to be held in Saudi Arabia? Who can decide if that happens? How will the LIV be classed as a whole entity? Who makes decisions about team events and whether those teams should be sponsored?

What has begun to take shape as more information becomes available is that no one has the answers to any of these questions. That could mean things are still forming behind the scenes.

The relationship looks great on paper, but the disputes for control at the corporate building level don’t happen on paper. With so much going on and so many powerful people in the room, there are 1,000 ways this could happen. Titles may look neater this week as three mighty entities come together, but the finished product is forever gone and the struggle to shape it has just begun.