Jay Monahan has revealed talks with the Public Investment Fund are “accelerating.”
The PGA Tour’s commissioner told the press at TPC Sawgrass that he met with Yasir Al-Rumayyan in January, the governor of the Saudi sovereign wealth fund that bankrolls LIV Golf.
A deal between what were once rival parties in golf’s civil war was in sight on June 6 2023, when the initial framework agreement was made public in an unexpected fashion.
But as the months have ticked by, doubts have surrounded the likelihood of a compromise while LIV Golf has continued to nab some of the PGA Tour’s top stars such as Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton.
As a result of the ongoing, unfinished negotiations, these two stars are not eligible to play in this week’s 50th Players Championship, but Monahan maintained that the PGA Tour schedule still documents the world’s best players.
“As I’ve said on a number of occasions, you can’t negotiate a deal like this in public, so I will be brief,” Monahan said here at The Players.
“I recently met with the governor of the PIF, Yasir Al-Rummayyan, and our negotiations are accelerating as we spend time together.
“While we have several key issues that we still need to work through, we have a shared vision to quiet the noise and unlock golf’s worldwide potential.
“It’s going to take time, but I reiterate what I said at the Tour Championship in August. I see a positive outcome for the PGA Tour and the sport as a whole. Most importantly, I see a positive outcome for our great fans.
“Despite the distractions over the last two years, fans, sponsors, and communities continue to value and engage with the PGA Tour and I am more confident than ever in the fundamental strength in our organisation.
“We offer a schedule and a competitive structure that showcases the world’s best players.”
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Jay Monahan press conference at The Players: ‘I could have handled that better’
‘Shock’ is the word one could use to describe the feeling among the PGA Tour members when the PGA Tour announced its intention to work with the PIF last summer.
‘Betrayal’ was a word some players used as not even the likes of Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods were privy to the negotiations, nor the timing of the announcement during the RBC Canadian Open in Toronto.
A spikey reaction from the players followed and the fallout caused Monahan, aged 53, to take time away from his role as the tour’s commissioner to address his own health.
The PGA Tour has signed one significant financial deal in 2024, but with Strategic Sports Group (SSG), a US-based sports investment consortium, worth up to $3 billion. This update increased speculation as to whether talks with the PIF were going swimmingly.
After he meandered through the many media heads waiting for his first press conference since the Tour Championship, Monahan admitted the rollout of the PIF framework agreement could’ve been handled differently in hindsight.
“There are always things when you look back that you would do differently. I think I’ve been asked this question at prior sessions with the media, and it’s something I’ve talked to our players about,” he added.
“But obviously when you look back to last summer I could have handled that better, and I’ve taken full responsibility and accountability for that. That’s on me. But we’ve moved on, and we’ve made so much progress since that point in time and I have learned from it.
“I’ve been humbled by it. I think I’ve gotten stronger as a leader, and the progress that we have made since that point in time, some of which I just talked about, and includes the SSG’s investment in the PGA Tour and the prospects that that brings forward, I couldn’t be more excited about.
“But – this is a very complicated business when you have 200 plus members, over 100 different corporate partners, 50 tournament organisations, communities you’re responsible for.
“I’m really proud of our players. I’m really proud of my team members. We’re just trying to get better every single day, and I feel like as an organization we have come a long way in the last several months, and I expect next time I’m in front of all if you we’ll have a lot more progress to report.”
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