PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan confirmed that he and the player directors from the tour’s policy board met with the head of the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia on Monday in the Bahamas but offered little news about their discussion.
According to media reports on Tuesday, Monahan notified PGA Tour players via a memo on Monday night that the meeting with the player directors – Patrick Cantlay, Peter Malnati, Webb Simpson, Jordan Spieth, Adam Scott and Tiger Woods – took place with Yasir al-Rumayyan, the PIF’s governor and also the chairman of the LIV Golf League.
The PGA Tour and the PIF have been in discussions since June about an alliance with the DP World Tour and PIF that would bring along billions in cash from Saudi Arabia. The PIF is the funding arm of LIV Golf.
“The conversation throughout was constructive and represents an important part of our due diligence process in selecting potential investors for PGA Tour Enterprises,” Monahan wrote in the letter, per ESPN.
“This mirrors the approach we employed earlier this year as we evaluated an investment offer from the Strategic Sports Group. During the session, Yasir had a chance to introduce himself to our player directors and talk through his vision, priorities and motivations for investing in professional golf. “As we continue these discussions with the PIF, we will keep you updated as much as possible, but please understand that we need to maintain our position of not conducting negotiations in public.
“To that end, we will provide no further comments to the media at this time.”
The deadline to finalise the deal passed on December 31 but the sides agreed to an extension amid ongoing talks.
In January, Strategic Sports Group, which is made up of owners of US pro sports teams and others, announced an investment in the newly created PGA Tour Enterprises that could be worth as much as $3bn.
Men’s professional golf has been in an upheaval since LIV Golf launched in June 2022.
With significant financial resources, LIV Golf successfully recruited many of the PGA Tour’s biggest names and others with guaranteed money far surpassing their annual earning power on the long-established tour. Reigning Masters champion Jon Rahm, a superstar in the sport, defected to LIV Golf in December for a contract worth more than $300mn. Rory McIlroy, who reportedly has spurned advances from LIV Golf, said Sunday in advance of the meeting that he welcomed having the sides sit down.
“I think it should have happened months ago, so I am glad that it’s happening,” McIlroy said after his final round at The Players. “Hopefully, that progresses conversations and gets us closer to a solution.”
Late last year, LIV announced its global 2024 regular season schedule. Competition teed off in February and features 12 regular season events in eight different countries, including new and returning markets across the world.
