DORAL, Fla. PGA Tour has denied the request made by Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund wanting assurance for LIV Golf League could continue existing in its current format. This puts the two sides very far apart in the quest to unite professional men’s golf. As cited by The Guardian newspaper, the PGA Tour replied on Monday to PIF stating that such an arrangement was unacceptable, but still wished to reach a deal in which the PIF would invest more than $1 billion in PGA Tour Enterprises.
Sources further disclosed to streameast that disputes exist concerning how a deal would encompass LIV Golf, which is currently holding the fifth event of the year, LIV Golf Miami, at Trump National Doral Golf Resort. There, former President Trump arrived on Thursday to dine with players and officials.
Both sides have been negotiating for nearly two years since a framework deal was reached in June 2023 aimed at resolving the schism in the men’s professional golf.
However, it seems that the principal contention is the PGA Tour wanting to proceed with the LIV Golf league drastically reduced, or entirely phased out. It is said that Al-Rumayyan wishes for the company to retain the current format, which consists of 13 four-man teams and two wildcard players who compete for a $25 million total purse over three rounds of golf.
On Wednesday at Doral, LIV Golf’s CEO Scott O’Neil stated that he is not a negotiator of any sort but is still kept in the loop by Al-Rumayyan.
“I’ll jump in with two feet if the deal can grow the game of golf,” expressed O’Neil. “Do we have to do a deal? No. It would be nice to do a deal, so long as we’re all focused on the same things.
“So do we have to do a deal or need a deal, whatever word you choose, leave that to somebody smarter than me. What I will say is, I love what we’re doing. I love our prospects. I love the growth in three months and what is coming in the next three months. And I love where we are.”
O’Neil has been very optimistic about the company’s future since taking over for Greg Norman in January, especially considering international expansion plans. The company increased hiring, moved into a new office space in New York City, signed a long-term deal with an Australian event, and adopted a more forward “business as usual” dive.
PGA Tour’s Jay Monahan Al-Rumayyan announced that a seat on the PGA Tour Policy Board was part of the arrangement, but he has yet to publicly support LIV’s team based format or the increase in number of events.
“We understand there is flexibility to incorporate key aspects of LIV golf, which are more attractive to our audience, into the PGA tour framework.” Monahan spoke last month during the Players Championship and claimed they were doing all possible to unite both parties.
The for-profit division of the Tour has received $1.5 billion in funding from Strategic Sports Group, which plans to use the funds to expand the business and generate returns for the investors as well as offer appealing equity shares to players in the PGA tour.
Amid these worries, the PGA Tour seems to be focusing on tackling loss aversion in the LIV financial model as it struggles during its 4th season while financed by the 700 billion dollar Saudi Wealth fund.
The two sides had not been in contact since the Trump meeting, which was a part of his ‘trying to bring both sides together’ journey. The guardian also stated that Trump’s meeting was accompanied by Al-Rumayyan’s two other guests; Tiger Woods and Adam Scott.
