LIV Golf’s financial backer, the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund, is considering a “potential tie-up” with the DP World Tour, according to Bloomberg. Discussions between the European golf league and the sovereign wealth fund are separate from the ongoing negotiations between the PIF and PGA Tour Enterprises.
Should a deal between the PIF and DP World Tour sides come to fruition, members of LIV Golf may receive access or membership onto latter tour. In exchange, the DP World Tour would receive financial compensation and a buoy to its balance sheet, which often struggles in non-Ryder Cup years.
In 2022, the PGA Tour and DP World Tour expanded on their initial strategic alliance with the PGA Tour providing operational support and additional investment for the DP World Tour. Through that partnership is to set run until 2036, the DP World Tour guaranteed growth in annual prize funds for the next five years.
Unlike the PGA Tour, the DP World Tour has not completely shut the door on LIV Golf players being eligible for its tournaments. Levying fines against players for participating in non-sanctioned events, the DP World Tour has allowed those who settled their debts to tee it up on its circuit.
LIV Golf’s Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton were among league members to consistently play on the DP World Tour this fall in order to fulfill membership requirements ahead of the 2025 Ryder Cup. Hatton won the 2024 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, while others like Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed also played on the DP World Tour.
It has now been 18 months since the PGA Tour and PIF announced a framework agreement to combine commercial operations under a new for-profit entity, which has since been named PGA Tour Enterprises. The deadline for the agreement expired Dec. 31, 2023, but sides have continued negotiations.
In the meantime, the Strategic Sports Group — a consortium of U.S. investors and sports team owners — invested $1.5 billion in PGA Tour Enterprises with another $1.5 billion of funding available. It is believed PIF’s investment in PGA Tour Enterprises would come in at a similar figure.
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