Despite insisting they are “actively engaged” in “enhanced” negotiations as of late, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan has had no real update on the proposed deal between the league and the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia on Wednesday.
Monahan was asked repeatedly about the status of negotiations between the Tour and PIF, which supports LIV Golf, at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, site of the Tour Championship this week. This happened about nine months after the group missed the original Dec. 31 deadline for a deal, and little has changed since then.
“I would say that the priority has been reinforced. It’s stronger,” Monahan said Wednesday at East Lake Golf Club before the Tour Championship. “This is a direct result of dialogue and conversation and a real start of discussion about the future, the future vision of products and the direction we can take our sport.
“I think when you engage in productive conversations, it increases the likelihood of positive outcomes and it strengthens the spirit of those same conversations. I think that’s where things are.
Monahan’s comments Wednesday were not new. He said a version of the same thing a few weeks ago at TPC Southwind, so we don’t know if anything has really changed since then. There is also no new deadline for a deal.
“I don’t think we want to restrict ourselves in that way,” Maonahan said. “We want to achieve the best possible result at the right time. »
Jay Monahan: LIV Golf deal ‘will continue to take time’
Monahan first shocked the golf world last summer when he announced he had reached a “framework agreement” for a partnership between the Tour, DP World Tour and PIF – after years of battle tumultuous within the sport.
After missing their deadline last December, the Tour formed a “transactions subcommittee” meant to focus on day-to-day negotiations. with the FIP. Monahan and several players, including Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods, are part of this committee. The Tour released its 2025 schedule earlier this month, which Monahan said was a sign that the two leagues would continue to operate separately next year.
The Tour has since received an influx of money to also follow the PIF. She launched PGA Tour Enterprises, a for-profit organization, after receiving up to $3 billion in investment from Strategic Sports Group. This created a pathway for players to actually participate in the Tour, among other things.
It is not clear what is blocking the negotiations. According to Mark Schlabach of ESPNSignificant “sticking points” in the discussions relate to the future of team golf and whether or not LIV Golf members could return to the PGA Tour without a discipline. Monahan, however, did not go into detail Wednesday.
So when the deal will happen, if at all, no one knows yet. Based on Monahan’s comments this week, there’s no real end in sight here.
But the important thing, he says, is that all parties are still at the table.
“We are in regular dialogue,” Monahan said. “We have the right people at the table with the right mindset. I see it in all of these conversations, on both sides. It creates optimism about the future and our ability to But at the same time, these conversations are It’s going to take time. They have taken time and they will continue to take time.
