PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan did his best to fend off questions regarding the organization’s ongoing negotiations with LIV Golf’s financial backers, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, during a press conference Tuesday ahead of the 2025 Players Championship. While Monahan kept his cards close to the vest, he did say the PGA Tour would be willing to adopt certain aspects of LIV Golf in order to bring the two sides together.
“When you’re in the midst of complex negotiations, particularly when you may be near a breakthrough, there are ebbs and flows in the discussion,” Monahan said. “The most important thing is the mutual respect that we’ve built over the last couple of years. We appreciate Yasir [Al-Rummayyan]’s innovative vision, and we can see a future where we welcome him on to our board and work together to move the global game forward.
“As part of our negotiations, we believe there’s room to integrate important aspects of LIV Golf into the PGA Tour platform. We’re doing everything that we can to bring the two sides together.”
Monahan — along with PGA Tour members Tiger Woods and Adam Scott — participated in a four-hour working session with President Donald Trump and Al-Rummayyan, the PIF governor, a couple weeks ago. The commissioner has since been complimentary of the President and his willingness to help the deal along, which may include swerving potential roadblocks presented by the U.S. Department of Justice.
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Monahan confirmed a next meeting has yet to be scheduled.
While there appears to be headway in these discussions, one of the main talking points between the two leagues remains team golf’s place at the PGA Tour level. LIV Golf is currently made up of 13 teams owned and operated by playing captains such as Phil Mickelson and Bryson DeChambeau. Whether these squads or simply the concept of team golf continues — based on whatever form a unification between the tours takes — remains a question without a definitive answer.
“We will not [integrate LIV Golf] 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. “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. Our team is fully committed to reunification.
“The only deal that we would regret is one that compromises the essence of what makes the game of golf and the PGA Tour so exceptional.”
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