Sources – PGA Tour, PIF officials meet in New York
PGA Tour officials, including 15-time major champion Tiger Woods, met with representatives of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund in New York on Tuesday, sources confirmed to ESPN.
The parties are trying to reach an agreement that would transfer more than $1 billion from the PIF to PGA Tour Enterprises, a new for-profit company launched by the tour and Strategic Sports Group.
The meetings are scheduled to last several days, sources told ESPN.
PGA Tour Enterprises chairman Joe Gorder and Fenway Sports Group owner John W. Henry are part of a commercial subcommittee negotiating with the Saudis, along with Woods and golfer Adam Scott.
X flight tracking account radaratlas2 noted on Tuesday that jets owned by Woods, Saudi oil and natural gas company Aramco and the PGA Tour arrived in the New York area on Monday.
At the Tour Championship in Atlanta last month, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said talks with the PIF are “more advanced” and “stronger” than ever, suggesting a deal could be reached to restore the broken sport. together.
The PGA Tour, DP World Tour and PIF, which has sponsored the rival LIV Golf League for the past three years, signed a framework agreement on June 6, 2023, to form an alliance.
The deadline for that deal expired on December 31, but the parties continued to outline the details of a potential deal.
“I would say that the bottom line is, it’s improved,” Monahan said on Aug. 28. “It’s powerful. That’s a direct result of conversations and discussions and we’re really starting to talk about the future, the vision of the future product and where we can take the sport.
“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.”
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