PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Integrating LIV Golf into PGA Tour Enterprises and bringing the best players back together in a form of reunification remains the goal of commissioner Jay Monahan.
But as negotiations between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia—which backs LIV Golf—labor on, Monahan was unwilling to offer any specifics.
Asked repeatedly about various aspects of the deal Tuesday in advance of the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass, Monahan mostly doubled down on his opening remarks.
“As part of our negotiations, we believe there’s room to integrate important aspects of LIV Golf into the PGA Tour platform,” he said. “We’re doing everything that we can to bring the two sides together.”
Specifics were lacking. Is LIV to exist as is? Diminished? Not at all? Is team golf part of the plan? Any kind of tournament structure that is global in nature?
Monahan again praised President Trump for his role in hosting two negotiating sessions, the first of which clearly went better than the second from the PGA Tour side.
Although Monahan would not acknowledge that, the tenor of the comments since both Monahan and board member Tiger Woods spoke last month at the Genesis Invitational has changed from hopeful optimism to reserved corporate speak.
Monahan’s remarks Tuesday did at least allude to to the various dribs and drabs of information that have come out in recent weeks: that bringing LIV Golf under PGA Tour Enterprises is the goal, but that doing so to the satisfaction of both sides has proven difficult.
Whether it be the financial drain of the LIV Golf League, figuring out a way to integrate players back into the PGA Tour—or vice versa—and working out scheduling issues, there is clearly an impasse.
While a deal once seemed possible as recently as two weeks ago, now the languishing negotiations do not appear close to concluding.
“We will not do so in a way that diminishes the strength of our platform or the very real momentum we have with our fans and our partners,” Monahan said about the negotiations. “So while we’ve removed some hurdles, others remain. But like our fans, we still share the same sense of urgency to get to a resolution.”
If there was one strong message Monahan delivered as it relates to the PGA Tour product, it was this:
“If you look at the PGA Tour today and the strength of our organization, the momentum that we have as an organization and what we stand for, I mean ultimately if you’re a player anywhere in the world, this is the platform that you want to get to,” he said. “These tournaments are 72-hole stroke play tournaments at historic, iconic venues, with moments like we had last Sunday with Russell Henley and his family (at the Arnold Palmer Invitational). That’s who we are as an organization, and that’s who we’ll always be as an organization.”
During the course of a 54-minute news conference, Monahan got 16 out of 30 questions related to the PGA Tour-PIF negotiations.
Last month at Torrey Pines, Monahan met with reporters and confidently talked about the negotiations getting closer to a resolution with the idea of “one tour” and the best players competing together more often. (At the moment, that can only occur in the major championships, as LIV Golf members are not permitted to play on the PGA Tour.)
When asked Tuesday if LIV’s team element was a deterrent and if one tour was still the goal, Monahan said:
“I think what our fans are telling us is that they want to see the best players in the world playing together more often and that’s what really is the focus of the conversations.
“I’ve shared all I’m going to share as it relates to where we are, but hopefully through my commentary you understand and our fans understand that our interest in doing so is very real.”
Adam Scott, who is a member of the PGA Tour Policy Board and attended both meetings at the White House, boiled down the negotiations.
“I think the biggest hangup is in how we see the highest level of competitive golf going forward,” Scott said. “The product of LIV and the product of the PGA Tour work in very different ways.”
Later, he said: “We’re starting from two different sides of this, so I think it’s hard to find the balance that’s acceptable for everybody. And it also may not be ultimately possible.”
Monahan was asked about Strategic Sports Group, a private equity group that has invested $1.5 billion in PGA Tour Enterprises. He was asked about new LIV CEO Scott O’Neil. He was asked about Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of the PIF which is worth a reported $950 billion.
Other than to say that the SSG money has yet to be invested, there was little detail.
“I don’t have any additional information to share beyond what I’ve already shared,” Monahan said. “I think it’s very clear that the focus is our commitment to the negotiations. At the same time, our focus is to do everything we can to make the PGA Tour even stronger, to capitalize on the momentum that we have, to listen to our fans and to do everything that we can in our control.”
Last week, Rory McIlroy suggested that while a deal should be the end goal, it is not necessary for the PGA Tour at this point, given its recent run of limited success with television ratings and the infusion of the SSG capital.
Monahan stopped short of saying there might not be a deal.
“I think that when you’re committed to something and you’re committed to try and get to reunification and do so for our fans and for the game, I mean, that’s all you can commit to a process, and that’s exactly what we’re doing,” he said.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Though Lacking Details, Jay Monahan Says Goal Is to ‘Integrate’ LIV Golf With PGA Tour.
