The silence was deafening. When PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan addressed media at the Tour Championship earlier this month, he was famously tight-lipped on what is happening in the talks between the two groups.
Monahan predictably simply said matters were ongoing with nothing to report out publicly.
Since June 2023 the PGA Tour and the Saudi-financed LIV Golf have been attempting to find a pathway linking the two together. Is love in the air? Serious roadblocks still remain for both parties in this bedeviling courtship.
LIV Golf commenced in June 2022 and remains operational because of the deep pockets connected to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The financial arm for the effort is via the Saudi’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) with estimates of $620 billion in assets with holdings in such prominent companies as JP Morgan, Chase, Meta and Microsoft. In sum, there is no amount of dollars PIF cannot summon to maintain their continued enthusiasm in various sports.
Initially, Monahan stated the PGA Tour would not seek any relationship with LIV. He sternly warned members of the Tour looking to compete in such events they would be suspended. When defections took place, true to his word, suspensions were implemented.
Amazingly, the Commissioner flipped his position 180 degrees in a year’s time when announcing a framework agreement with LIV’s lead player Al-Rumayyan on CNBC. The move was sudden – causing a major fissure with a number of key players who had remained loyal even when courted to jump ship to LIV for mega dollars upfront.
What had once been a hard wall separating the two groups – has now moved to the stage of a blossoming love match with an engagement providing everything short of actual hugs and kisses.
Fast forward to the latest developments.
Meetings were held in New York last week between the two parties and that situation has not gone unnoticed. The 9/11 Justice Group issued a clear denunciation on September 10 given the close timing to the anniversary of the attacks in New York, Washington, D.C. and Pennsylvania that took place on September 11, 2001.
“Tomorrow (Wednesday), we commemorate the 23rd anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy, yet here we are today, in New York City, down the street from Ground Zero, and the PGA Tour and Tiger Woods are negotiating with them,” Brett Eagleson, 9/11 Justice president said in a statement.
“As has been confirmed in the last few weeks by CBS reporting, the Saudi Arabian government played a role in the horrific attacks of 9/11. It is disgusting, unacceptable, and incredibly painful that the Tour and Woods would do this — especially now.”
The dilemma for the PGA Tour and other key sports organizations is whether forging business relationship with countries having controversial human rights issues is helpful to the image they are seeking to build and expand. The term “sports washing” is now front and center as countries seek to use the platform of sports to add legitimacy to their standing in the world.
Thus far, sports organizations in all corners of the globe have been willing to accept money from such countries given the need to remain financially viable.
Since the framework agreement was announced the PGA Tour has been able to secure the financial involvement of The Strategic Sports Group in January of 2024. The Group is a consortium of key sports club owners and has pledged $3 billion to fund the newest initiative. $1.5 billion has already been invested immediately for PGA Tour Enterprises – a new for-profit company. The new effort is structured in providing equity status to no less than 200 PGA Tour members.
PGA Tour player directors released a joint statement supporting the deal.
“We were proud to vote in unanimous support of this historic partnership between PGA Tour Enterprises and SSG,” said Patrick Cantlay, Peter Malnati, Adam Scott, Webb Simpson, Jordan Spieth and Tiger Woods. “It was incredibly important for us to create opportunities for the players of today and in the future to be more invested in their organization, both financially and strategically.
This not only further strengthens the Tour from a business perspective, but it also encourages the players to be fully invested in continuing to deliver—and further enhance—the best in golf to our fans. We are looking forward to this next chapter and an even brighter future.”
The missing part of the puzzle remains with LIV. Can a unified structure be created that can appeal to both organizations? What process will be followed for those players who defected to LIV from the PGA Tour? How much of a dollar investment is likely to come forward from PIF if an agreement can be reached?
From its outset the spectacle of LIV was in securing a number of prominent players with large sums of guaranteed money. Tournament formats feature just 54 holes of play, including no cuts for all events and a team format which has had difficulty in securing a galvanizing interest for golf fans.
LIV did secure a minor television deal but overall ratings for events were less than re-runs of “I Love Lucy.”
Pushback against LIV’s competitive formula was swift as world ranking points – the porthole for all players in securing slots into the most prestigious of events – were denied.
Related: Tiger Woods hints his part in LIV talks could cost him Ryder Cup captaincy
The inability to secure world ranking points has seen the position of key players fall noticeably and become an elevated issue of contention – especially for LIV players in their 20s not otherwise exempt to play in the four major championships.
LIV is also isolated from the broader golf community. No major companies affiliated with the PGA Tour have shown an interest in being active as sponsors at whatever level. For many of these companies the connection to Saudi Arabia and the avalanche of worldwide condemnation connected to the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 has prompted a range of key companies to remain on the sidelines until whatever the talks produce.
Key questions also remain to be answered. What kind of equity stake is LIV seeking with this new PGA Tour Enterprises? Additionally, what specific role does Al-Rumayyan seek to attain? Speculation from earlier reports have stated he would be placed as chairman of the board.
Schedules for the PGA Tour and LIV have been announced for 2025. If a “marriage” between the parties does take shape it’s highly likely the 2026 calendar will see a major shake-up in terms of what events remain and those either ending or provided a lower status level.
The PGA Tour faces a number of clear challenges in the talks with LIV. Significant changes have already been made with the number of positions eligible for exempt status for the following season reduced from the previous 125 to 70. That same number has also been implemented for those players eligible for the first round of the FedEx Cup Playoffs.
In years past the PGA Tour sought to balance the needs of both elite players and those in the rank-and-file. That balance has shifted towards providing more lucrative events for the upper echelon players and thereby causing friction between those just trying to stay afloat with the bare minimum of status for other events.
The PGA Tour is also faced with the dilemma of falling television ratings. With the glory days of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson now in the rear-view mirror – the brain trust in Ponte Vedra will have to seriously consider having a range of events that can spark viewer interest.
A “marriage” between the PGA Tour and LIV is hardly a love connection. It is a business alliance – meant to provide needed capital to the PGA Tour while bringing forward a new entity that is seeking a broader role in golf specifically and in sports generally.
Nothing is ever certain when separate entities are considering walking down the aisle and weighing the lasting impact of such words as “I do.”
The PGA Tour and LIV have gone through the fullest range of emotions through this “courtship.” The end game is now under the highest of scrutiny and the stakes could not be higher for a number of people involved – most notably Jay Monahan.
The balance of power now rests with PGA Tour players who sit on the Policy Board. Tiger Woods has taken an active role and his mere presence demonstrates the importance of what’s going on now.
When couples walk down the aisle there’s an anticipation for what lies ahead. A shared belief being together is better than remaining solo. The state of professional golf has been splintered since June 2022. A number of star players, Rory McIlroy among them, have stated how necessary it is to have all the key players competing against one another on a regular basis.
Should any deal be consummated it is almost certain a deep dive review will be carried out by the U.S. Justice Department given the higher profile role played by PIF and its ties to Saudi Arabia.
Make no mistake about it – nothing yet is set in stone. The outcome could well determine whether this “marriage” is a new beginning for professional golf with meaningful promise. Or one that ends with each party looking for exit ramps before reaching the altar and exchanging wedding vows.
We shall see.
Related: Sir Nick Faldo thinks LIV Golf is ‘an island’ and should remain its own tour
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