DORAL, Fla. — The PGA Tour has declined the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund’s request to assure it that the LIV Golf League could exist in its current form, with governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan also getting a seat on the Tour’s Policy Board, leaving the two sides far apart in their efforts to reunify men’s professional golf.
The Guardian newspaper reported that the PGA Tour replied to the PIF on Monday and deemed such an arrangement unacceptable but still wanting to reach agreement on a deal that would see the PIF invest more than $1 billion into PGA Tour Enterprises.
Sources told Sports Illustrated that there are disagreements about how a deal would include LIV Golf, which is playing its fifth event of the year this week, LIV Golf Miami, at the Trump National Doral golf resort, where President Trump arrived Thursday and met with players and officials over dinner.
The PGA Tour did not comment on the report.
The two sides have been negotiating for nearly two years since a framework agreement was struck in June 2023 with the idea of ending the division in the men’s game.
But the core issue appears to be the PGA Tour’s desire to move on with the LIV Golf league either eliminated or greatly diminished. Al-Rumayyan is said to want it to remain in its current form, which sees 13 four-man teams and two wildcard players compete in 54-hole events for a $25 million purse.
Scott O’Neil, the CEO of LIV Golf, said at Doral on Wednesday that he is not involved in the negotiations but is briefed on them by Al-Rumayyan.
“If the deal can help grow the game of golf I’ll jump in with two feet,” O’Neil said. “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 use, leave that to somebody smarter than me. I will say I love what we’re doing, I love our prospects. I love the growth in three months. I know what’s coming in the next three months. And I love where we are.”
O’Neil took over for Greg Norman in January and has been bullish on LIV Golf’s prospects as it finds success in international markets, with plans to grow that model. It has increased hiring, moved into new office space in New York City, signed a long-term deal with an event in Australia and generally taken a “business as usual” approach.
PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said that Al-Rumayyan would get a seat on the PGA Tour Policy Board as a part of a deal but he’s never publicly embraced the team format played by LIV nor the number of events.
“As part of our negotiations, we believe there's room to integrate important aspects of LIV Golf into the PGA Tour platform,” he said last month at the Players Championship. “We're doing everything that we can to bring the two sides together.”
The Tour’s for-profit entity has seen $1.5 billion in investment come from the private equity Strategic Sports Group, with the money meant to grow the business, leading to a return for the investors while also providing lucrative equity stakes for PGA Tour players.
The Tour is said to be concerned about the LIV financial model, which has seen significant losses as it plays its fourth year while backed by the $700 billion Saudi wealth fund.
The Guardian reported that the correspondence was believed to be the first communication by the two sides since a Feb. 20 meeting at the White House with Trump, who was said to be trying to get the two sides to come together. Tiger Woods and Adam Scott also attended the meeting with Al-Rumayyan, the second in a matter of weeks in the Oval Office.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Report: PGA Tour Declines Saudi PIF Proposal, Leaving Reunification in Doubt.
