The PGA Tour and LIV Golf don’t appear to be any closer to having their deal in place.
Tour commissioner Jay Monahan was asked about negotiations with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund on Wednesday ahead of the FedEx St. Jude Championship, which kicks off the FedEx Cup Playoffs, and he didn’t have much of an update. Despite being more than eight months past their initial self-imposed deadline for a deal, things are in a “good place.”
“They’re very complicated discussions,” Monahan said on Wednesday from TPC Southwind, via Sports Illustrated’s Bog Harig. “There’s a lot of elements to them. When you have the level of interaction, we’re continuing to meet and move forward and discuss and debate, you can’t be anything but hopeful.
“As it relates to times and timeframes and where we are, I’ll just say we’re in a good place with the conversations. That’s the most important thing.”
Still, the Tour released its schedule for the 2025 season on Wednesday and did not include LIV Golf whatsoever — which Monahan said was a sign that the two leagues would continue to operate separately next season.
Monahan surprised the golf world last season with the announcement that the Tour was going to form a partnership with LIV Golf after years of battling against them. The two sides reached a “framework agreement,” but nothing has been finalized. There was a deadline set for Dec. 31, 2023, but the two sides blew right past that without striking a deal.
The Tour has since formed a “transaction subcommittee” to focus on day-to-day negotiations with the PIF. Monahan and several players — including Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods — are on that committee, which reports back to the policy board.
While the Tour’s schedule release and Monahan’s comments on Wednesday don’t mean that a deal won’t get done, it seems as if the two sides are still a ways off from any sort of finalized agreement.
“It’s definitely quieted down … there hasn’t been as much chatter the last few months, which has been nice,” Patrick Cantlay, a member of the Tour’s policy board, said on Tuesday in Memphis. “I think that’s just kind of the nature of it. There’s going to be ebbs and flows, depending on what kind of information comes out or what announcements.
“When you say ‘end in sight,’ it’s always evolving. The PGA Tour has always been changing and trying to evolve and get better. Depends what you … define as the finish line. But I know all of us are working incredibly hard all the time to get the best outcome.”
LIV Golf is set to host its West Virginia tournament this weekend. There are two events on the schedule in September to wrap up its 2024 season. The top 50 people in the Tour’s standings after this week’s FedEx St. Jude Championship will advance to the BMW Championship next week. Then the top 30 golfers will move on to the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta to end the season.
