ATLANTA – PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said Wednesday there is no deadline for the tour to reach an agreement with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund but talks to reunite the fractured golf course are “advanced” and “strong.”
The PGA Tour, the DP World Tour and the PIF, which has sponsored the LIV Golf League rival for the past three years, signed a framework agreement on June 6, 2023, to create an alliance that could bring more than 1 billion in investment to Saudi.
The deadline for that deal expired on December 31, but the parties continued to outline the details of a potential deal.
“I would say the bottom line is, it’s improved,” Monahan said at a press conference before the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club. “It’s powerful. That’s a direct result of conversations and discussions and really starting to talk about the future, the vision of the future product and where we can take our game.
“I think if you get into productive conversations, that improves the chances of good results and that improves the spirit of those conversations. I think that’s where things stand.”
On Jan. 31, the PGA Tour announced that it had received a $1.5 billion investment — up to $3 billion — from Strategic Sports Group to create PGA Tour Enterprises, a for-profit company.
SSG is a consortium of billionaire sports team owners and others, including Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank and Fenway Sports Group owner John W. Henry. PGA Tour Enterprises chairman Joe Gorder and Henry are part of a small commercial committee negotiating with the Saudis, along with golfers Tiger Woods and Adam Scott.
“If you look at where we are right now, we’re in general discussions,” Monahan said. “We have good people at the table with the right mindset. I see that in all these discussions, and it is both sides. That creates hope for the future and our ability to meet. But at the same time, these discussions will take time, and they will continue to take time.
Sources previously told ESPN that the golf club’s role in the future of the game and whether LIV Golf League competitors will be able to return to the PGA Tour without discipline have been sticking points in the discussions.
On Wednesday, Tyler Dennis, the tour’s chief tournament officer, said golfers who have never been members of the PGA Tour will face a “waiting period” of one year from their last LIV Golf League event before being allowed to compete. on the PGA Tour.
Most of the LIV Golf roster is made up of players who regularly compete on the PGA Tour.
“Players who are members of the tour also have all the rules of our tournaments and rules of conduct that apply to them,” said Dennis. “I won’t go into detail about that, but there is an additional set of guidelines to consider.”
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