31 August 2023 , 15:43
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The PGA Tour has played down claims that it will unify with LIV Golf to form an 'elite golf tour' as part of its groundbreaking deal with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia (PIF).
The PGA Tour appeared to have brought an end to its feud with LIV after announcing an agreement had been reached with PIF that would see the two circuits work in unison. On the back of the agreement, the Daily Mail reported that the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and LIV would unite as part of a global tour that would host 18 'elite' tournaments.
According to the report, the worldwide circuit would be formed in 2025 as part of the agreement signed with PIF. It would include a £20 million prize purse at each of the 18 events.
It was also claimed that players would be able to compete across all three tours, despite the PGA Tour and DP World Tour having handed sanctions to players who joined the LIV Golf circuit. However, in response a report from Bunkered has revealed a PGA Tour source said the claims were "well wide of the mark."
Negotiations between Tour bosses and the Saudi fund are continuing, with a deadline of December 31 set for the deal to be finalised. On the back of the announcement earlier this summer, PGA Tour chiefs Ron Price and Jimmy Dunne appeared in front of the U.S. Senate to defend their dealings with PIF.
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The Senate had also called on PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan and LIV CEO Greg Norman to attend but both were unavailable. Whilst details on the deal have been sparse since the June announcement, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan provided some update last week.
Jay Monahan provided an update at the Tour Championship (Getty Images)Speaking at the season-ending Tour Championship, Monahan claimed negotiations were continuing and both sides were on track to reach the end-of-year deadline. There are frequent talks. Tyler [Dennis] and Ron Price, who did a tremendous job in my absence, are leading conversations with the team from PIF," Monahan said.
"I would just say, given the fact that there's frequency of talks, including Keith Pelley from DP World Tour, we're probably right where I would expect that we would be. But there's - yeah, so that's - there's an intensity and there's an urgency and there's a lot of work, good work, that's being done...
"We're confident that we're going to reach a positive outcome for the PGA Tour, and as it relates to reason not to believe or believe, you know, at this point, given what Tyler just outlined and what I said, no, I don't have any reason to think that we won't be successful."