pga tour dp world tour and pif

PGA TOUR updates players on negotiations with SSG, PIF, DP World Tour

(Ben Jared/PGA TOUR)

Change Text Size

The PGA TOUR provided its players with an update on negotiations with Strategic Sports Group (SSG), the Public Investment Fund (PIF) and the DP World Tour via a memo from PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan on Sunday.

The memo covered three primary points. First, Monahan noted that “we have made meaningful progress” in negotiations with SSG and are currently working toward finalization of terms and drafting necessary documents.

Secondly, with just hours until the Dec. 31 expiration date for the Framework Agreement with the PIF and DP World Tour, the memo spoke to an effort to extend the deadline into the new year based on the progress made to date. Monahan categorized the PIF and DP World Tour discussions as “active and productive.”

Finally, the memo restated the TOUR’s goal relative to all negotiations, which is to bring SSG, PIF and the DP World Tour on board as minority co-investors in PGA Tour Enterprises in 2024. Monahan said, “These partnerships will allow us to unify, innovate and invest in the game for the benefit of the players, fans and sponsors.”

Several players were already at Kapalua in Maui, Hawaii, where FedExCup champion Viktor Hovland and world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler will be among the headliners at The Sentry, which will kick off the 2024 PGA TOUR season. This week also marks the TOUR’s return to a calendar-year schedule.

• Today's news
• Reviews and deals
• Climate change
• 2024 election
• Fall allergies
• Health news
• Mental health
• Sexual health
• Family health
• So mini ways
• Unapologetically
• Buying guides

Entertainment

• How to Watch
• My Portfolio
• Latest News
• Stock Market
• Premium News
• Biden Economy
• EV Deep Dive
• Stocks: Most Actives
• Stocks: Gainers
• Stocks: Losers
• Trending Tickers
• World Indices
• US Treasury Bonds
• Top Mutual Funds
• Highest Open Interest
• Highest Implied Volatility
• Stock Comparison
• Advanced Charts
• Currency Converter
• Basic Materials
• Communication Services
• Consumer Cyclical
• Consumer Defensive
• Financial Services
• Industrials
• Real Estate
• Mutual Funds
• Credit cards
• Balance Transfer Cards
• Cash-back Cards
• Rewards Cards
• Travel Cards
• Personal Loans
• Student Loans
• Car Insurance
• Morning Brief
• Market Domination
• Market Domination Overtime
• Opening Bid
• Stocks in Translation
• Lead This Way
• Good Buy or Goodbye?
• Fantasy football
• Pro Pick 'Em
• College Pick 'Em
• Fantasy baseball
• Fantasy hockey
• Fantasy basketball
• Download the app
• Daily fantasy
• Scores and schedules
• GameChannel
• World Baseball Classic
• Premier League
• CONCACAF League
• Champions League
• Motorsports
• Horse racing
• Newsletters

New on Yahoo

• Privacy Dashboard

Yahoo Finance

Pga tour, dp world tour and pif announce newly formed commercial entity to unify golf.

PGA TOUR, DP World Tour, LIV Golf merge commercial operations under common ownership

Agreement establishes common goal to promote and grow  the game globally for the benefit of all stakeholders, ends litigation

NEW YORK and RIYADH, Saudi Arabia and PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. , June 6, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The PGA TOUR, DP World Tour and the Public Investment Fund (PIF) today announced a landmark agreement to unify the game of golf, on a global basis. The parties have signed an agreement that combines PIF's golf-related commercial businesses and rights (including LIV Golf) with the commercial businesses and rights of the PGA TOUR and DP World Tour into a new, collectively owned, for-profit entity to ensure that all stakeholders benefit from a model that delivers maximum excitement and competition among the game's best players.

In addition, PIF will make a capital investment into the new entity to facilitate its growth and success. The new entity (name TBD) will implement a plan to grow these combined commercial businesses, drive greater fan engagement and accelerate growth initiatives already underway. With LIV Golf in the midst of its second, groundbreaking season, the PGA TOUR, DP World Tour and PIF will work together to best feature and grow team golf going forward.

Notably, today's announcement will be followed by a mutually agreed end to all pending litigation between the participating parties. Further, the three organizations will work cooperatively and in good faith to establish a fair and objective process for any players who desire to re-apply for membership with the PGA TOUR or the DP World Tour following the completion of the 2023 season and for determining fair criteria and terms of re-admission, consistent with each Tour's policies.

"After two years of disruption and distraction, this is a historic day for the game we all know and love," said PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan . "This transformational partnership recognizes the immeasurable strength of the PGA TOUR's history, legacy and pro-competitive model and combines with it the DP World Tour and LIV – including the team golf concept – to create an organization that will benefit golf's players, commercial and charitable partners and fans. Going forward, fans can be confident that we will, collectively, deliver on the promise we've always made – to promote competition of the best in professional golf and that we are committed to securing and driving the game's future.

"We are pleased to move forward, in step with LIV and PIF's world-class investing experience, and I applaud PIF Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan for his vision and collaborative and forward-thinking approach that is not just a solution to the rift in our game, but also a commitment to taking it to new heights. This will engender a new era in global golf, for the better."

"Today is a very exciting day for this special game and the people it touches around the world," said PIF Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan . "We are proud to partner with the PGA TOUR to leverage PIF's unparalleled success and track record of unlocking value and bringing innovation and global best practices to business and sectors worldwide. We are committed to unifying, promoting and growing the game of golf around the world and offering the highest-quality product to the many millions of long-time fans globally, while cultivating new fans.

"There is no question that the LIV model has been positively transformative for golf. We believe there are opportunities for the game to evolve while also maintaining its storied history and tradition. This partnership represents the best opportunity to extend and increase the impact of golf for all. We look forward to collaborating with Jay and Keith to bring the best version of the game to communities around the world."

Under the terms of the agreement, the Board of Directors of the new entity will oversee and direct all the new entity's golf-related commercial operations, businesses and investments. The new entity will work to ensure a cohesive schedule of events that will be exciting for fans, sponsors and all stakeholders. PIF will initially be the exclusive investor in the new entity, alongside the PGA TOUR, LIV Golf and the DP World Tour. Going forward, PIF will have the exclusive right to further invest in the new entity, including a right of first refusal on any capital that may be invested in the new entity, including into the PGA TOUR, LIV Golf and DP World Tour. The PGA TOUR will appoint a majority of the Board and hold a majority voting interest in the combined entity.

Separately, PGA TOUR Inc. will remain in place as a 501(c)(6) tax exempt organization and retains administrative oversight of events for those assets contributed by the PGA TOUR, including the sanctioning of events, the administration of the competition and rules, as well as all other "inside the ropes" responsibilities, with Jay Monahan as Commissioner and Ed Herlihy as PGA TOUR Policy Board Chairman. PIF's Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan will join the PGA TOUR Policy Board. The DP World Tour and LIV Golf will retain similar administrative oversight of events on their respective Tours.

The Board of Directors of the new commercial entity will include Al-Rumayyan as Chairman and Monahan as Chief Executive Officer; the new entity's Board will also include an Executive Committee comprising Al-Rumayyan, Monahan, Herlihy and PGA TOUR Policy Board member Jimmy Dunne . The full Board will be announced at a later date, and it is anticipated that all three founding members will have representation.

Keith Pelley , Chief Executive of the DP World Tour, said "This is a momentous day. We are delighted to be able to not only reignite our relationship with PIF, but also to have the opportunity to build on our current Strategic Alliance partnership with the PGA TOUR. Together we will be stronger than ever and well positioned to continue to bring the game to all corners of the globe. To partner in this new entity and influence the growth of the game for all our DP World Tour members is energizing and exciting."

All parties will work in the months to come to finalize terms of the agreement, with details to be announced in due course.

View original content: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/pga-tour-dp-world-tour-and-pif-announce-newly-formed-commercial-entity-to-unify-golf-301843768.html

PGA Tour, PIF agreement: LIV Golf’s future will be determined by tour leadership

The framework agreement for the controversial new commercial company uniting the PGA Tour and the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund, along with the DP World Tour, has been obtained by The Athletic , offering for the first time clarity and new insight into the deal.

The deal — signed on May 30 by PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, PIF Governor Yasir al-Rumayyan and DP World Tour CEO Keith Pelley following six weeks of meeting and negotiations — ended a year of professional golf’s largest stakeholders battling both in the courtroom and the court of public opinion.

Advertisement

The framework agreement matches the rapidity with which it came to exist. It numbers only six pages.

According to a source briefed on the tour’s legal actions, the document was sent by the PGA Tour to the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI) on Monday night, along with other documents and information related to the agreement. The subcommittee, chaired by Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) opened an investigation into the agreement on June 12 and subsequently invited Monahan, al-Rumayyan and LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman to testify at a July 11 hearing in Washington . A source briefed on the tour’s plans confirmed to The Athletic that the PGA Tour will participate in the hearing. The PIF’s plans remain unknown.

The crux of the deal, often misunderstood or mis-explained since being announced on June 6 because of a lack of details and specificity in the initial releases, is made somewhat clearer in the obtained framework agreement, though plenty of questions remain.

• LIV Golf ’s future remains uncertain, as it now falls under control of the PGA Tour, a bizarre twist for the two old rivals.
• The framework lays out the composition of the board of the new venture (referred to as NewCo throughout) but also states a creation of a “Communications Committee” that could carry significant influence.
• In addition to assuring the PIF a right of first refusal on capital raised by NewCo, the framework also states the PIF will be “a premier corporate sponsor” of the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and other international tours, and that those tours will “work together collaboratively to identify a high profile event for which PIF or its designee(s) will make a financial investment to serve as title sponsor.”
• While $2-3 billion has been reported as the PIF’s initial investment, there is no mention of that in the agreement. A PIF source told The Athletic that the scale of the first offering is still being negotiated. Before the figure can be decided, valuations of each entity in the new company need to be completed. The PGA Tour’s valuation will include all commercial interests, media rights and properties. The tour is not putting cash into the new company.

The future of LIV

The fate of LIV, the rogue golf league created by the PIF and fronted by Greg Norman, will be dictated by a NewCo board that will be controlled by a PGA Tour majority, per the agreement. It states an “empirical data-driven evaluation” will be conducted of 1-year-old LIV to determine its future, and the board, overseen by Monahan, “will determine the ongoing plan and strategy.”

Major questions currently exist regarding LIV’s existence in the 2024 season and beyond. The framework doesn’t answer those, but makes it clear that those decisions will essentially be made by a NewCo board that’s weighted towards its biggest competitor. While it will have to be considered that the PIF had already reportedly invested well over a billion dollars into LIV, the sustainability of the product will be the ultimate measure.

However, the idea of team golf is mentioned independently in the framework agreement, stating the board “will make a good faith assessment of the benefits of team golf.”

The future of LIV players

The framework states the tours “will work cooperatively and in good faith to establish a fair and objective process for any players who desire to re-apply for membership with the PGA TOUR or the DP World Tour following the completion of the 2023 season and for determining fair criteria and terms of re-admission consistent with each Tour’s disciplinary policies.”

Translation: A pathway will be created for LIV players like Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson to return to the PGA Tour, but not until 2024 at the earliest and not without penalty. What that might look like remains unknown, but some sources within the PGA Tour have suggested everything from fines to a year suspension dating from a player’s final LIV event played.

Understanding the PIF and PGA Tour union

As previously known, the agreement between the three parties creates a new commercial business (NewCo) that combines the commercial golf holdings of each entity. While the PGA Tour will operate independently, competition-wise, its commercial holdings will now fall under NewCo. The PIF, meanwhile, will “make a cash investment in NewCo for an incremental ownership in order to fund the growth of NewCo which will include a right of first refusal on capital raised,” per the agreement. As part of the deal, both sides agreed to drop all existing litigation.

The unexpected union of the PIF and PGA Tour is as follows:

“PIF will contribute their golf-related investments and assets, including LIV, to NewCo along with a cash investment, in exchange for the issuance to PIF of an equity ownership interest in NewCo at a fair value mutually agreed by the parties. Following the contribution of assets into NewCo, NewCo shall assume all of the liabilities and obligations of the contributed assets, provided that each Party’s contributed businesses will be valued in their totality, taking into account all liabilities, commitments, contributions and obligations made or incurred by the respective prior owners, including in respect of player contracts and other working capital and operating expenses. In addition, the PIF will make a cash investment in NewCo for an incremental ownership in order to fund the growth of NewCo which will include a right of first refusal on capital raised by NewCo, provided that, for the avoidance of doubt, the PGA TOUR will at all times maintain a controlling voting interest in NewCo and PIF will continue to hold a non-controlling voting interest, notwithstanding any incremental investment by PIF or exercise of its right of first refusal.”

The framework also states the PIF will be “a premier corporate sponsor” of the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and other international tours. While this may raise some eyes, imagining the possibility of the PIF or one of its holdings sponsoring a PGA Tour event after a year of strife between the two, it’s perhaps more likely that PIF or Saudi Aramco, the kingdom’s budding oil giant, will have a larger presence on the DP World Tour, where such sponsorships are already commonplace.

Who has the votes?

Per the framework, the NewCo board composition will reflect voting ownership percentage and the PIF will continue to hold a non-controlling voting interest. Al-Rumayyan will serve as chairman. Monahan will be CEO. The executive board will consist of Monahan, al-Rumayyan and PGA Tour board members Jimmy Dunne and Ed Herlihy.

While the makeup of the board has been known, the framework also states a creation of a “Communications Committee” that will “help facilitate a smooth business transition” and “coordinate and manage communications” between PIF, LIV and the PGA Tour. The committee will be co-chaired by Herlihy and one unnamed individual, while the remaining two members will be Dunne and a second unnamed individual. Those lines are blank in the framework. According to a source briefed on the agreement, this committee will finalize plans integrating the tours and guide decisions on LIV players attempting to reclaim membership on the PGA Tour.

Required reading

• PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan recuperating from ‘medical situation’
• Nick Taylor’s Canadian Open win delivered but what’s next amid PGA Tour uncertainty?
• Who are the men behind LIV-PGA merger? What to know about Jay Monahan, Yasir Al-Rumayyan

(Photo: Rob Carr / Getty Images)

Get all-access to exclusive stories.

Subscribe to The Athletic for in-depth coverage of your favorite players, teams, leagues and clubs. Try a week on us.

Brendan Quinn is an senior enterprise writer for The Athletic. He came to The Athletic in 2017 from MLive Media Group, where he covered Michigan and Michigan State basketball. Prior to that, he covered Tennessee basketball for the Knoxville News Sentinel. Follow Brendan on Twitter @ BFQuinn

• Share on Facebook
• Share on Twitter
• Share by Email

7 things we learned from leaked PGA Tour-Saudi PIF agreement

• Follow on Twitter
• Follow on Instagram

Jay Monahan speaks with the media during the 2023 Players Championship.

Getty Images

Twenty days after the shocking announcement of a “framework agreement” between the PGA Tour and the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund, confidential copies of the deal became public Monday night. The document, which was first reported on by The Athletic and No Laying Up and also obtained by GOLF.com, was sent to Congress Monday evening, ahead of the July 11 Senate hearing on the proposed partnership. 

According to the five-page accord , which was signed May 30, the proposed company — temporarily named NewCo — “will be the entity for professional golf,” but for the time being the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and LIV Golf will coexist. The PGA Tour will maintain its powerful position atop the men’s professional golf world, its costly litigation now nullified, while forging an uncertain future that could see Tour members and LIV golfers regularly competing in the same tournaments.

Importantly, this is all part of an initial agreement, only parts of which are legally binding. “Definitive Agreements” are cited throughout the deal that these once-warring sides hope to ratify. The document has been shared with Congress because the entire proposal is under investigation by both the U.S. Senate and Department of Justice. A hearing is scheduled for July 11, which the PGA Tour has said it plans to attend. LIV Golf declined to comment when asked if it would be in attendance, and the PIF did not respond to an inquiry about its intentions.

LIV Golf and the PGA Tour were embroiled in multiple lawsuits throughout 2022 and early ’23, one of them focused on alleged anticompetitive practices of the PGA Tour. For a major market shareholder to suddenly merge its business interests with its primary competitor(s) is a move we’ve seen in other pro sports, but that still garners close attention from U.S. lawmakers. This proposed partnership, because it involves the DP World Tour, is also likely to face investigation from European regulators.

Key details: 

1. One through-line of the document, as previously reported by GOLF.com , are clauses that ensure power for the PGA Tour . The PIF is making an investment and bringing its golf assets to the table — one of which is LIV — but the PGA Tour will maintain voting control of the NewCo board. Additional investment from the PIF — and/or actions under its right of refusal on new capital raised — will not increase its presence beyond a non-controlling voting interest.

2. LIV Golf’s future, as well as that of team golf, is unclear. It’s not dead, but it’s certainly not guaranteed to survive, either. When PGA Tour commissioner J ay Monahan repeatedly mentioned an “empirical evaluation” would take place on the prospects of LIV Golf, he was simply quoting the agreement:

“NewCo will be provided access to all information requested to facilitate this evaluation and assessment … so that the NewCo Board, with recommendation of its [CEO] Jay Monahan, will determine the ongoing plan and strategy regarding all NewCo operations…”

In other words, Monahan will hold many cards. Jimmy Dunne and Ed Herlihy — both proposed members of the NewCo executive committee — would also possess much influence. Will they want LIV Golf to exist as it currently does? Monahan said himself that is unlikely. Could the league be repackaged as the PGA Tour’s own version of team golf? That’s plausible. The agreement states that the parties “will make a good faith assessment of the benefits of team golf…and determine how best to integrate team golf into PGA Tour and DP World Tour events going forward.” 

Tom Watson blasts PGA Tour-Saudi PIF merger in open letter

3. Players who left for LIV Golf would be allowed to return, but with specific qualifiers. For starters, no players will be allowed back before the 2023 season plays out. (Also, for the time being, no players will be recruited to play for LIV teams.) More important, the PIF, PGA Tour and DP World Tour will be setting “fair criteria and terms of readmission consistent with each Tour’s disciplinary policies.” That likely means that different players who left at different times and in different ways — i.e. departed mostly silently or went so far as to recruit other players — will be dealt different terms for reinstatement. Phil Mickelson, for example, was one of the first players officially suspended by the PGA Tour , in March 2022, when he worked to recruit players to join LIV, according to court documents. 

4. The words “good faith” are used throughout the agreement, but perhaps most important in regards to the Official World Golf Ranking : “The parties will cooperate in good faith and use best efforts to secure OWGR recognition for LIV events and players under OWGR’s criteria for considering LIV’s application.” LIV events have not received world ranking points since its inception, which has caused the world ranking for each of its commitments to fall as a result, and caused great consternation among the upstart league’s strongest supporters. The only player whose ranking has risen since joining LIV was Brooks Koepka, who has played well in major championships in 2023. The agreement seems to state that LIV events could earn ranking points in the future, but no details have been finalized beyond that.

5. Pending approval and the various investigations, the PIF would become a corporate partner of the PGA Tour and DP World Tour , wherein the three sides would “identify a high profile event for which the PIF or its designee(s) will make a financial investment to serve as title sponsor.” 

The PIF is already a title sponsor of the Saudi International, which is now in its fifth year. The event was initially sanctioned by the DP World Tour but in recent years was rebranded “PIF Saudi International powered by Softbank Investment Advisors” and on the Asian Tour schedule. The agreement seems to make it not just possible but likely that we could see a PIF-sponsored event on the PGA Tour schedule.

6. The PGA Tour Policy Board will have a PIF-appointed member . We already knew this was coming — PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan is set to join the board, as part of the initial announcement — but the wording in the agreement portends that perhaps another PIF executive could take Al-Rumayyan’s place. The deal nonetheless creates an 11th seat on the board, which currently includes five PGA Tour players and five independent directors. The board has never once blocked a decision that was unanimously approved by its player directors, but it is unclear if Al-Rumayyan’s inclusion would trigger adding a sixth player director for balance. 

7. There’s still much to be decided. A stipulation of the document states that the contents of it will remain until (a) the Definitive Agreements are signed, (b) an extension is agreed to, or (c) Jan. 1, 2024 arrives. If neither A nor B takes place, the agreement between the PGA Tour and PIF will be terminated.

Latest In News

Loneliness threatened his pga tour future. now he's contending at the pga, 2024 pga championship money: purse, payout breakdown, winner's share, 3 pga moving day disappointments | seen and heard at valhalla day 6, 2024 pga championship sunday channel: how to watch round 4 at valhalla.

Zak is a writer at GOLF Magazine and just finished a book about the summer he spent in St. Andrews .

• Author Twitter Account
• Author Instagram Account

Related Articles

At the pga championship, golf's most controversial invite has a lot to say, 'i wanted to throw up': brooks koepka endured 'punishment' workouts after disappointing masters, 'i want to wring his neck:' golf channel analysts irate after jon rahm comments, pga tour-pif dealmaker resigns, citing ‘no meaningful progress’, 2024 pga championship odds: former runner-up is our long-shot pick to win at valhalla, winner's bag: rory mcilroy's gear at the wells fargo championship, rory mcilroy blasts past xander schauffele to win wells fargo championship, 2024 wells fargo championship sunday tv coverage: how to watch round 4, 2024 wells fargo championship sunday tee times: final-round groupings.

Advertisement

Framework agreement leaks for pga tour partnership with dp world tour, saudi arabia's public investment fund, share this article.

The agreement between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund sent shockwaves through the golf world earlier this month.

Since the groundbreaking news, it’s been reported the U.S. Department of Justice is reviewing the proposed deal , same with the U.S. Senate . The leaders of the Tour, PIF and LIV Golf have even been invited to a senate hearing July 11, 2023.

Information has been slow to release over the last month, leaving players and fans with countless unanswered questions. On Monday night, the framework agreement leaked on Twitter and was first reported by The Athletic .

The document is just six pages long and was signed on May 30 – a week before the news broke on CNBC – after six weeks of negotiations by PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, DP World Tour CEO Keith Pelley and PIF Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan. According to the report, the Tour sent the document to the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, and the Tour plans to participate in the hearing while the PIF’s actions are unknown.

Here’s what we learned from the framework of the deal:

• LIV Golf’s future will be decided by the new entity’s board that will be controlled by a Tour majority.
• A “Communications Committee” will be created that will “help facilitate a smooth business transition” and “coordinate and manage communications” between PIF, LIV and the PGA Tour.
• The PIF will be “a premier corporate sponsor” of the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and other international tours, and will be a title sponsor for at least one event.

More from the agreement to create a new global golf entity, which they reference as “NewCo:”

PIF will contribute their golf-related investments and assets, including LIV, to NewCo along with a cash investment, in exchange for the issuance to PIF of an equity ownership interest in NewCo at a fair value mutually agreed by the parties. Following the contribution of assets into NewCo, NewCo shall assume all of the liabilities and obligations of the contributed assets, provided that each Party’s contributed businesses will be valued in their totality, taking into account all liabilities, commitments, contributions and obligations made or incurred by the respective prior owners, including in respect of player contracts and other working capital and operating expenses. In addition, the PIF will make a cash investment in NewCo for an incremental ownership in order to fund the growth of NewCo which will include a right of first refusal on capital raised by NewCo, provided that, for the avoidance of doubt, the PGA Tour will at all times maintain a controlling voting interest in NewCo and PIF will continue to hold a non-controlling voting interest, notwithstanding any incremental investment by PIF or exercise of its right of first refusal.

The framework agreement between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, and PIF. pic.twitter.com/utQK0JefYV — No Laying Up (@NoLayingUp) June 27, 2023

The new information is in addition to what was already known: Monahan will be the CEO of the new venture, Al-Rumayyan will be the chair of the board, and PGA Tour board members Jimmy Dunne and Ed Herlihy – who helped construct the agreement – will complete the executive board. The PIF will be the sole investor and have right of first refusal to new money coming in. Players will be returning to the various Tours, but it’s still unclear what must happen before they are once again eligible.

While some questions have been answered with regard to the partnership, plenty more still remain.

More PGA Tour

Another member of the pga tour policy board has resigned, scottie scheffler planning to play next week on pga tour after 'hectic' week at 2024 pga championship, why are pros using laser rangefinders, gps at the 2024 pga championship, 12 golfers have won three legs of the career grand slam in men's pro golf.

Check out the best equipment you can buy: Best drivers for 2024 | Best irons for 2024 | Best putters for 2024 | Best golf balls for 2024

PGA Championship Betting Promos & Bonuses | How to Get $3800 from Top Golf Betting Sites

PGA of America executives 'absolutely' worried about 'messy' state of pro golf

Lucas Glover rips PGA Tour player directors: 'They somehow think they're smarter than the business people'

Jon Rahm dishes on love for PGA Tour, Saudi PIF negotiations and his 2024 PGA Championship chances

Most popular, how all 16 liv golf players have fared so far after two rounds of the 2024 pga championship, how all 16 liv golf players fared at the 2024 pga championship at valhalla, tiger woods, jon rahm and ludvig aberg among the notables to miss the cut at 2024 pga championship, lynch: scottie scheffler’s scandal shows why the pga tour has to look elsewhere for much-needed spice, 2024 pga championship at valhalla features record purse, first-place prize money, in pictures: rory mcilroy and wife erica stoll, what some golfers at 2024 pga championship said about scottie scheffler arrest, fatal car crash at valhalla golf club.

• Live on Sky
• Get Sky Sports
• Sky Mobile Apps
• Kick It Out
• Black Lives Matter
• British South Asians in Football

Keith Pelley 'optimistic' of deal between PGA Tour, DP World Tour and PIF being finalised

The Framework Agreement between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) is due to be finalised by the end of the year; Keith Pelley provided an update during the DP World Tour Championship

Saturday 18 November 2023 14:46, UK

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

DP World Tour chief executive Keith Pelley believes golf's main tours are more motivated than ever to lock in a definitive agreement with Saudi Arabia's PIF (Public Investment Fund) before next month's deadline.

A shock deal between the PIF - who bankroll LIV Golf - the PGA Tour and DP World Tour was announced on June 6, with an initial deadline of December 31 set to finalise the details of the partnership.

The deadline could pass before a definitive deal, which would aim to unify the sport, is agreed, with Pelley confirming that talks have been ongoing to try and find a resolution for the sport.

• Rory McIlroy resigns from PGA Tour policy board
• Is Rory McIlroy the deserved Race to Dubai champion?
• Stream the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, LPGA Tour and more with NOW

"I think everyone understands and everyone respects some of the reasons, I don't need to go into them, that for the past four or five months it hasn't moved as quickly as we would have hoped after signing on June 6 in San Francisco," Pelley told Sky Sports at the DP World Tour Championship.

"I said to a number of journalists a couple of weeks ago that I thought things would heat up and conversations would intensify after the Ryder Cup in Rome and that is exactly what has happened.

• Papers: Real Madrid line up move for Liverpool midfielder Mac Allister
• Will next season be Pep's last? 'I'm closer to leaving than staying'
• Transfer Centre LIVE! Pochettino unsure over Chelsea future
• Schauffele edges DeChambeau to snatch historic major victory
• Hits and misses: Poch doesn't deserve uncertainty over future
• Klopp leads Slot chants in final speech to Liverpool fans at Anfield
• Arteta defiant: Arsenal will win the Premier League
• Premier League final day highlights
• Man City crowned champions | 'Pep's a winning machine'
• 'My phone is going to be on' - Pochettino unsure over future
• Latest News

"The conversations are confidential in nature, so I can't really go into the details of it, but I do believe that all three parties are in the exact same position that they we were in June.

"I think we're more motivated now to do a deal, and that's of course the PIF [Public Investment Fund], the PGA Tour and ourselves, to try to take the framework to the next step, to sign a definitive agreement which unifies the game, which I believe is in the best interests of global golf.

McIlroy: 'Right time' to leave PGA Tour board

Why McIlroy resigned from PGA Tour board

Are R&A open to Saudi investment?

Does McIlroy deserve Race to Dubai title?

"I'm optimistic that we can move these conversations on in the next month."

What could happen next?

The PGA Tour is also understood to be assessing potential funding from alternative private equity sources, with Fenway Sports Group - owners of Liverpool and the Boston Red Sox - reported to be one of the interested parties.

Rory McIlroy, who is one of the PGA Tour's player directors, knows better than most what is happening behind the scenes, but acknowledged any deal with the PIF would need to be approved by the United States government.

"I think if you were in the middle of it, you would see that there's a path forward," McIlroy said in his press conference ahead of the DP World Tour Championship. "It's just that no one on the outside has any details, right. Loose lips sink ships, so we are trying to keep it tight and within walls.

"I'm sure when there's news to tell, it will be told. I think getting something done sooner rather than later is a good thing. Because you know, even if we get a deal done, it doesn't mean that it's actually going to happen.

"That's up to the United States government at that point and whether the Department of Justice think that it's the right thing to do or whether [it's] anti-competitive or whatever. Even if a deal does get done, it's not a sure thing. So yeah, we are just going to have to wait and see."

Watch the PGA Tour and DP World Tour live every week on Sky Sports. Stream the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, LPGA Tour and more with NOW .

How to watch Premier League, EFL play-offs, WSL, Scottish Premiership, F1 and more

• Stream with NOW

• Upgrade Now

• CBSSports.com
• Fanatics Sportsbook
• CBS Sports Home
• Champions League
• Motor Sports
• High School

Football Pick'em

College Pick'em

Fantasy baseball, fantasy football, fantasy basketball, fantasy hockey, franchise games, 24/7 sports news network.

• CBS Sports Golazo Network
• PGA Championship
• UEFA Champions League
• UEFA Europa League
• Italian Serie A
• Watch CBS Sports Network
• TV Shows & Listings

The Early Edge

A Daily SportsLine Betting Podcast

With the First Pick

NFL Draft recap

• Podcasts Home
• The First Cut Golf
• Beyond the Arc
• We Need to Talk Now
• Eye On College Basketball
• NFL Pick Six
• Cover 3 College Football
• Fantasy Football Today
• My Teams Organize / See All Teams Help Account Settings Log Out

Tiger Woods talks PGA Tour, PIF negotiations ahead of 2024 PGA Championship: 'It changes day to day'

Woods is in attendance at valhalla, the site of his dramatic 2000 pga championship triumph.

Tiger Woods is being seen on the golf course perhaps six times at year at this stage in his career, but that doesn't mean he isn't pulling the strings of the professional game behind the scenes. Ahead of the 2024 PGA Championship at Valhalla -- the site of his fifth major title in 2000 -- Woods provided an update on the ongoing negotiations between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund. 

"I think we're working on negotiations with PIF," Woods said. "It's ongoing. It's fluid. It changes day to day. Has there been progress? Yes. But it's an ongoing negotiation, so a lot of work ahead for all of us with this process. And so, we're making steps, and it may not be giant steps, but we're making steps."

Woods joined the PGA Tour policy board in August 2023 as part of a transparency measure following blowback from the June 6, 2023, announcement in which the PGA Tour agreed to operate commercially under the same umbrella as LIV Golf's financial backers. That has yet to come to pass.

Woods' role on the board has since evolved as he also now sits on the PGA Tour Enterprises board following the Strategic Sports Group's $3 billion investment into the entity this past January.

The 15-time major champion's imprint doesn't stop there as Woods is also a member of the recently announced transaction subcommittee, which is tasked with PIF negotiations. Tiger is joined on this committee by Joe Gorder, Joe Ogilvie, John Henry, Jay Monahan, Adam Scott and Rory McIlroy, who was blocked out of a potential return to the PGA Tour policy board by a small subsection of members that reportedly included Woods (given their different views on what the future of the professional game should look like).

"It's good to see it differently, but collectively as a whole, we want to see whatever's best for all the players, the fans, and the state of golf," Woods said. "How we get there, that's to be determined, but the fact that we're in this together and in this fight together to make golf better is what it's all about."

Someone who is no longer in this fight together with Woods and McIlroy is the man who was deemed the original architect of the deal between the PGA Tour and PIF, Jimmy Dunne. The Wall Street deal maker resigned from his post on the PGA Tour policy board this Monday claiming his position was "utterly superfluous" given "no meaningful progress has been made towards a transaction with the PIF."

"Jimmy and the amount of work and dedication that he put into the board and to the PGA Tour, it's been incredible," Woods said. "It was a bit surprising that he resigned yesterday and just how it all came about, but no, his role and his help, then what he's been able to do for the PGA Tour has been great."

All of this comes as Tiger and his peers prepare for the second major championship of the season. Questions centering around the future of the game continue to swirl as this week's competition at Valhalla marks one of just four times this year that players from the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and LIV Golf will all come together and play in the same tournament.

"I think the fans are probably as tired as we are of the talk of not being about the game of golf and about not being about the players," Woods said. "It's about what LIV is doing, what we're doing, players coming back, players leaving. The fans just want to see us play together. How do we get there is to be determined."

With little progress made in the conversations between the PGA Tour and PIF, this separation appears likely to continue for the foreseeable future. While unwilling to discuss specifics like the rest of those involved in the potential deal, Woods was able to confirm as much.

"We made some progress, yes, for sure," Woods said. "But there's a long way to go still."

Our Latest Golf Stories

Schauffele takes control of his narrative with PGA win

Kyle porter • 6 min read.

Korda stays hot winning 6th LPGA event in 7 starts

Ap • 2 min read.

Purse, prize money, payouts for 2024 PGA Championship

Patrick mcdonald • 2 min read.

Where to watch 2024 PGA Championship on Sunday

Adam silverstein • 2 min read.

2024 PGA Championship TV schedule, live stream

Adam silverstein • 3 min read.

Round 4 tee times and pairings for PGA Championship

Share video.

Tiger talks PGA Tour, PIF ahead of PGA Championship

Schauffele controls narrative with PGA win

Korda stays hot: Sixth win in seven starts

Lowry ties major record with flawless 62 on Moving Day

Scottie Scheffler ends 41-round par-or-better streak

Scheffler arrested, released before Round 2 at Valhalla

PGA worker was fatal accident victim at Valhalla

Tiger misses PGA cut with two triple bogeys in Round 2

Davis Love III enthused about golf's young stars

PGA Championship

Valhalla Golf Club

Letter from Europe

Guy Kinnings has a simple job as the new DP World Tour chief: Keep his 50-plus-year tour relevant

LONDON — No one said it was going to be easy. And less than a month into his tenure as just the fifth Chief Executive in the European/DP World Tour’s more than 50 years of existence, Guy Kinnings isn’t having to look too far for problems that need solving. Predictably, one in particular is dominating the 60-year-old Englishman’s thoughts. Like everyone else at the sharp end of administration in professional golf, he is concerned that the current conflict between the game’s establishment and LIV Golf needs to be resolved. And resolved as soon as possible.

“I’ve got a lot of stuff in my ‘in-tray,” Kinnings says on Thursday during a session with various golf media. “But there is one topic that needs to get sorted first. If and when that happens, everything else will flow from there. The irony is that golf is such a healthy state in so many metrics—participation, interest levels—but until we get a solution and know what the future of the professional game is going to look like, everything else has to wait. It is the elephant in every room.

“All I want to do is get the right people round the table—PGA Tour Enterprises, Fenway Sports Group, Strategic Sports Group, the DP World Tour, the Saudi Public Investment Fund—I don’t know,” Kinnings continues. “But there is an intent to talk about what the future can look like. What does the product look like in 2026 and beyond? What is the pathway? But until we get the right people in the right room with the right intent, we are never going to work out a deal. That is what is needed right now. And it’s the same as in any business: don’t leave until you have deal done.”

To that end, Kinnings claims to be encouraged by the dealings he has so far had with Yassir Al-Rumayyan, chairman and governor of the PIF, the financial arm for the LIV Golf League.

“The Saudis will want to ensure that they do things properly,” Kinnings says. “Yassir is a very astute businessman. I have no doubt he will have weighed up the dynamics at play. But everything I have heard is that he wants to find a longer-term solution. If he believes in the good of the game, he will know that a split product in the long run is not good. He will know that as well as anyone. So it is essential that, in the long run, things have to be better for the professional game. The more we hear about (television viewing) numbers falling, the more it is clear that, if we don’t move quickly, there will be lasting damage. I don’t think Yassir wants there to be damage to the game. He loves the game.”

More From Golf DIgest

As to exactly what any deal should look like, Kinnings not surprisingly favors the model suggested by Rory McIlroy earlier this year, one that is “truly international.” By way of example, that could mean a “world tour” comprising, say, 20 events with the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour “feeding” players into the newly created global circuit.

“I see a lot of sense in that,” Kinnings says. “What do the fans really want to see? They want to see the best players competing more often. So that model has appeal. But it is only part of the picture. If we are to find a solution, we need to be looking at integrating team golf in some way. That will satisfy what LIV has done. But it will also recognize that we all love team golf. Last year the Ryder Cup reminded us what golf at its best can look like. All I want to do is protect that. Our goal has to be to elevate everything.”

That can only happen if the leading U.S. players are prepared to travel outside their homeland. Despite much evidence to the contrary, Kinnings is optimistic on that front, pointing out that, historically, American superstars did their bit to promote the game worldwide. Which is true. In the past American superstars travelling helped create big events around the world. Arnold Palmer’s role in the resurrection of the Open Championship is one such example. Tiger Woods appearing regularly in Asia is another.

“The American players realizing that they will have to travel to enhance their brands is something they will have to compromise on,” Kinnings says. “If we all recognize that the game will be damaged without a solution I think the players will come round.”

Still, amidst all of the speculation, Kinnings is also cognizant of the fact that the DP World Tour does not have the loudest voice in any negotiations regarding the future of the professional game. A cynical observer might conclude that the DP World Tour will, whatever happens, simply do what the PGA Tour dictates. The pair are currently the constituent parts of a so-called “strategic alliance” that guarantees, amongst other things, record prize funds on the former European circuit for at least the next 13 years.

Prior to becoming DP World Tour chief, Kinnings was in charge or the Ryder Cup for the tour.

Andrew Redington

On the other side of that continuing debate, there are those Europeans who would not complain if Kinnings were to lead his members into a global circuit (minus the U.S.) alongside the PIF. All valid points, but whatever happens, Kinnings is quick to point out the experience the Old World circuit could bring to a truly worldwide tour.

“I don’t claim that I can make everything happen,” he says. “And I know we are characterized as the ‘third wheel’ in any negotiations. But I know that we have a voice in this. The reality is that the PGA Tour now has some very smart investors in Fenway Sports Group and the Strategic Sports Group. But we, through our strategic alliance, are working closely with the PGA Tour. We are working together on the end product. It’s a joint exercise. So practically, we are being listened to. I have dealt with the guys at Fenway, who were fascinated by the history of the DP World Tour and our internationalizing of the game. They know that we have the relationships around the world. We’ve built them for 50 years.

“Plus, two of the biggest financial institutions in the world want to invest in golf. Rory put it best when he said we need to find a way for them to do that. They clearly think golf works for them. Otherwise they wouldn’t be putting money in. So it’s our job to give them something that works for them and for the fans. We need to look forward, not back.”

Also heartening Kinnings is the news that Rory McIlroy is likely to re-join the PGA Tour Policy Board and become a director of PGA Tour Enterprises, meaning that there will be at least one European voice in that influential room.

“I know how much it took out of Rory originally,” says Kinnings, who served six years as the European Tour Group’s Deputy CEO, Chief Commercial Officer and Executive Director-Ryder Cup before taking on his new role April 2. “He worked on board meetings until 2-3 in the morning, then got up and played in pro-ams. And now he’s prepared to go back. His voice is really important.”

There are many voices though and Kinnings, responding to the notion that things need to start happening soon, comes close to adding a timetable if golf is to survive the current crisis.

“I hope getting it right happens in the next few months,” he says. “We know it has to be done ASAP. I don’t see too much changing in 2025. 2026 is when we will see significant changes. To do that we need 2025 to prepare. I’m not setting any deadlines. But to plan a new product for 2026 you really need to have it done by the end of this year. Everyone needs to be flexible and compromise. Once we have the right solution we need to move fast.”

Jordan Spieth decries 'false narrative' in PIF-PGA Tour reporting

How are things going in the PGA Tour’s negotiations with the Saudi Public Investment Fund?

That depends who you ask.

Rory McIlroy hasn’t been particularly impressed; he recently attempted to rejoin the Tour’s Policy Board because he was frustrated with the lack of momentum.

“I think I can be helpful. I don't think there's been much progress made in the last eight months, and I was hopeful that there would be,” he said several weeks ago.

And when Jimmy Dunne - the architect of the original PIF-PGA Tour-DP World Tour framework agreement -  stepped down from the board on Monday, he made his frustrations clear, too.

"Since the players now outnumber the Independent Directors on the Board, and no meaningful progress has been made towards a transaction with the PIF, I feel like my vote and my role is utterly superfluous," Dunne wrote in his resignation letter.

But PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan pushed directly back against that “no meaningful progress” narrative in a late-night text sent to players on Monday, insisting that “we continue to make meaningful progress behind the scenes in our negotiations toward a potential agreement with the PIF.”

The goal of negotiations, Monahan added, remains simple: “To deliver the best possible outcome for the PGA Tour, our players, partners, tournaments and fans.”

By this point many fans have wearied of the nuts and bolts of subcommittees and board appointments and equity payment structures. You may be yawning just a few paragraphs into this article. I get it. It’s been nearly a year since the framework agreement, after all, and nearly two years since the beginning of pro golf’s divide. Is something happening or is it not? There’s still no clear answer. But there is a clear gap in perception. Dunne says no meaningful progress has been made. Monahan says meaningful progress is being made. They can’t both be right. So who’s telling the truth?

Tiger Woods addressed the discussions on Tuesday morning. Sort of.

“It’s ongoing; it’s fluid; it changes day-to-day,” he said. “Has there been progress? Yes. But it’s an ongoing negotiation, so a lot of work ahead for all of us with this process, and so we’re making steps and it may not be giant steps, but we’re making steps.”

Woods referenced the PGA Tour as “for the players and by the players.” He said there’s a place for the player directors and for the independent directors, too. He said he couldn’t get into too much detail on the state of negotiations. But he acknowledged general fatigue on the subject.

“I think the fans are probably as tired as we are of the talk not being about the game of golf and about not being about the players,” he said. “It’s about what LIV is doing, what we’re doing, players coming back, players leaving; the fans just want to see us play together. How do we get there is to be determined.”

But we got slightly more from Jordan Spieth, who addressed the media an hour after Woods and was asked specifically about Dunne’s comments about the board shifting in the direction of player control.

“I would say that I think that there’s been a shift that direction, but I think that we’re finding the appropriate balance going forward,” Spieth said. He referenced the natural motion of a seesaw. He insisted that based on the opinions of experts and lawyers they’ve worked with, the governance structure is in a good spot.

The subject clearly struck a nerve with Spieth, who took over Rory McIlroy’s vacated board seat last fall and has been working extensively behind the scenes on crafting a stable future for the Tour. But in recent weeks multiple reports have pointed the finger at him, Patrick Cantlay and Woods for slowing negotiations, blocking a potential merger and clashing with McIlroy’s vision for a deal. Spieth insisted on Tuesday that that’s not the case.

“I think we’re going to be at a really, really good place where the players on the PGA Tour can feel really good about it, as well as not having players making business decisions,” he added. “Like, that’s not - if you’re in the room, it’s very obvious that players are not dictating the future of golf and the PGA Tour. Like, you need to have everyone’s perspective on both sides of it, and everyone that’s involved within [PGA Tour] Enterprises. You have a lot of strategic investors that know a heck of a lot more than any of us players.”

“So that’s a false narrative that the players are determining all these things. That’s not even what Jimmy [Dunne] was saying. Jimmy was saying more of the balance of things, and I think that balance is being restored.”

In a follow-up question a reporter asked whether a “stronger player-driven board” could serve as a potential distraction to his on-course play. Spieth bristled at the phrasing.

“It’s just balanced. It’s not player-driven,” he said. “You guys have got to stop saying that. Like, it’s not the case. It’s balanced in a way that, at least from what I’ve heard, the investors, Tour management, and independents feel it should be. I think we’re in a place where we’re being told that this is how it should be as well.

A balanced board, Spieth said, means “independent [directors] that are essentially making the decisions that we are not qualified to make.” As for the players? “[We’re] offering insights on how the membership would feel, and whether it’s eligibility matters or whatever is left on the [PGA Tour] Inc. board, you know, we both have an opportunity to offer insights to make the right decision. So it’s balanced.”

Spieth is particularly dismayed, he said, with the negative public perception of the PGA Tour’s current position.

“I think things are, unfortunately, put in a really bad light right now, and I think things are actually in a really, really good place, based on what I know - which is quite a lot in this situation,” he said. Both sides have been frustrated at times, he said, waiting for the other. But he feels confident that everyone on the PGA Tour side is rowing in the same direction.

“And I believe we’re going to end up in a really good place,” he said. “And I just continue to kind of chuckle, because I only feel positive momentum when we’re having these internal conversations, and then every time anything comes from the outside world it’s the opposite, and it just kind of makes me chuckle a bit because it’s a bit frustrating.

“So I hope our fans and the fans of golf are aware that, you know, people are trying to do the right thing and the same thing together, it just, it’s going to take a little bit of time to figure out exactly what that looks like.”

In all, Spieth’s was a forceful performance, if somewhat short on specifics. Welcome to this era of pro golf!

So how are negotiations going? That still depends who you ask. In the absence of proof, feel free to live in whatever golf world you want. And you may as well kick back and enjoy the PGA Championship. Just don’t spend too much time pondering what constitutes “meaningful progress.”

We’ll know it when we see it.

The post Jordan Spieth decries ‘false narrative’ in PIF-PGA Tour reporting appeared first on Golf .

Tiger Woods says PGA Tour's talks with PIF remain 'fluid'

• Senior college football writer
• Author of seven books on college football
• Graduate of the University of Georgia

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Tiger Woods said progress has been made in the PGA Tour's negotiations with Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, but there is a "long way to go still" in bringing the fractured sport back together.

Woods' comments came a day after independent director Jimmy Dunne resigned from the PGA Tour's policy board and said talks with the PIF had slowed down. They come less than a week after Rory McIlroy told reporters that other player directors weren't comfortable with him returning to the policy board.

PIF finances the rival LIV Golf League, which has poached several top golfers from the PGA Tour over the past two-plus years, including former major champions Jon Rahm , Dustin Johnson , Brooks Koepka and others.

"Well, I think we're working on negotiations with PIF," Woods said Tuesday at Valhalla Golf Club, the site of this week's PGA Championship. "It's ongoing, it's fluid. It changes day-to-day. Has there been progress? Yes, but it's an ongoing negotiation, so a lot of work ahead for all of us with this process. And so we're making steps and it may not be giant steps, but we're making steps."

Woods was added to the influential policy board for the first time on Aug. 1 after a group of the PGA Tour's biggest stars sent a letter to commissioner Jay Monahan demanding more transparency from the tour.

Woods is one of six player directors on the board, along with Patrick Cantlay , Jordan Spieth , Adam Scott , Peter Malnati and Webb Simpson .

There were five independent directors on the board, including Dunne. Along with Monahan and policy board chairman Ed Herlihy, Dunne helped negotiate the PGA Tour's stunning framework agreement with the PIF, which was announced on June 6.

The framework agreement expired on Dec. 31, but the sides have been working to reach a deal. Woods and other player directors, along with Monahan, met with PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan in the Bahamas on March 18.

Dunne, a Wall Street dealmaker, wrote in his resignation letter Monday that "no meaningful progress has been made towards a transaction with PIF" and that "my vote and my role is utterly superfluous" because a small group of people were making decisions. Dunne said he hadn't been involved in talks with the Saudis since June.

Woods and McIlroy are part of a transaction committee that will continue negotiations with the Saudis.

"Well, the PGA Tour is for the players and by the players," Woods said. "So, we have an influence and there's roles for the player directors, and there's roles for the independents. We're trying to make the PGA Tour the best it can be, day in and day out. That's one of the reasons why we have arguments and we have disagreements, but we want to do what's best for everyone in golf and the tour. Without those kinds of conflicts, the progress is not going to be there, so it's been good."

On Tuesday, Spieth disputed suggestions that players had gained control of the PGA Tour policy board and PGA Tour Enterprises board.

"If you're in the room, it's very obvious that players are not dictating the future of golf and the PGA Tour," Spieth said. "You need to have everyone's perspective on both sides of it, and everyone that's involved within Enterprises. You have a lot of strategic investors that know a heck of a lot more than any of us players. So that's a false narrative that the players are determining all these things.

"Now that things have split up, they're two very different boards. But I hope and feel like everyone's trying to row the boat the same direction and get it to where they're both in a very sound place [where] what's been happening just doesn't keep happening."

Woods, a 15-time major champion, acknowledged that golf fans are probably tired of hearing about the battle for players and money between the circuits.

"I think the fans are probably as tired as we are of the talk of not being about the game of golf and about not being about the players," Woods said. "It's about what LIV is doing, what we're doing, players coming back, players leaving. The fans just want to see us play together. How we get there is to be determined."

Max Homa described the continued discussions about golf's civil war "very troubling."

"I don't like where it's going," Homa said. "It's got to be exhausting to be a casual golf fan at this point in time. I don't know why you would want to hear about the business side of this game.

"I hope at some point soon we can just get back to entertaining people, playing golf, and seeing who shoots the lowest score and not talking about what our player advisory council is going to do. The fans of golf should not know who is on the board."

• SI SWIMSUIT
• SI SPORTSBOOK

'It's Messy': PGA of America CEO Hopes for Agreement Between PGA Tour and LIV Golf

Bob harig | may 15, 2024.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The head of the PGA of America on Wednesday reiterated his desire to see golf come together with some resolution to the current PGA Tour/Public Investment impasse that continues to dominate discussion.

Seth Waugh, the CEO of the PGA—who also has a seat on the seven-member board of the Official World Golf Ranking—said on the eve of the PGA Championship that “I’m sort of hoping it’s the darkest before the dawn.’’

He also took issue with the timing of Jimmy Dunne’s resignation from the PGA Tour Policy Board , which was announced on Monday and noted that the PGA Championship “has the most flexibility of the majors’’ when it comes to inviting LIV Golf League players.

“It's messy and it seems to get messier every week,” Waugh said. “I think the best thing for the game is a deal. And we've been very consistent on that front.

“What has been an unsustainable business model has put pressure on other places like the Tour that creates some financial dynamics as well as other dynamics that are very hard, and quite frankly it puts some financial pressure on us, as well. I don't think the game is big enough for two tours like that, and I think we are diluting the game in a way that is not healthy.

“I hope there's a deal. I think both sides are not only committed to trying to find a deal but really need a deal, and in my history of deal making, when both sides kind of need something to happen, it generally does. I don't know the timing. I don't have any insider information that you all don't have. But I'm hopeful that there will be a deal over time.

“I hope there's urgency because I do think it's doing damage to the Tour, to the game. As I said earlier, I hope it's short-term damage, as opposed to permanent damage, and so I hope there's some urgency in the timing around it because I just don't think it's a healthy situation right now.”

The PGA of America has been lauded for inviting seven LIV players, with 16 total in the field. But both Waugh and Kerry Haigh, the PGA’s chief championships officer, said that was more a product of the tournament’s wide range of invitations it can extend.

“Our invitation process has been pretty much the same for many years,” Haigh said. “We have 15 criteria that are pretty much set, and then there’s an there's an opportunity for us to invite those players who may not be in those 15 criteria.

“We're fortunate in that case to be able to look at various tours, all tours, including LIV, world golf rankings, federation rankings, DP World Tour, New Zealand, Korn Ferry Tour, and from those identify what we think are the best players or potentially the best future players and offer them invitations.”

Talor Gooch, who was LIV’s leading player last year but has fallen outside of the top 600 in the OWGR, is the best example of a player who is being given credit for what he has done at the LIV Golf League. He got an invite along with four players who were among the top 100 in the world (Joaquin Niemann, Adrian Meronk, Lucas Herbert and Patrick Reed), another who won twice on the Asian Tour (David Puig) and one who won twice last year on the DP World Tour in South Africa (Dean Burmester).

The inability for LIV golfers to get OWGR points has led to the call for the majors to give direct spots to LIV players, something the others have so far resisted.

Mike Whan, CEO of the United States Golf Association, suggested recently the that USGA will have to look at it closer as it believed that the situation would be resolved with some sort of unification.

That alliance has become more unclear in the last week as Rory McIlroy’s desire to get back on the policy board as a player director was rebuffed and reports of differing views on whether or not the PGA Tour events wants a deal with the PIF continue to surface.

Last week McIlroy was appointed to a “transaction committee” that includes Tiger Woods and Adam Scott and that is to negotiate directly with the PIF. But McIlroy saw Dunne’s departure as a blow to the efforts.

“Honestly, I think it's a huge loss for the PGA Tour, if they are trying to get this deal done with the PIF and trying to unify the game,” McIlroy said. “Jimmy was basically the relationship, the sort of conduit between the PGA Tour and PIF. It's been really unfortunate that he has not been involved for the last few months, and I think part of the reason that everything is stalling at the minute is because of that. So it is, it's really, really disappointing, and I think the Tour is in a worse place because of it.

“I would say my confidence level on something getting done before last week was as low as it had been and then with this news of Jimmy resigning and knowing the relationship he has with the other side, and how much warmth there is from the other side, it's concerning.”

On Dunne, Waugh said: “Look, he's a very thoughtful guy and he's a grownup and he obviously has his own reasons for what he did. I wish his timing had been different than the Monday of our major.

“Look, they are going to have great candidates and I know they will get a great replacement for him. Wish him and them luck.”

As for his role with the OWGR and LIV’s lack of accreditation, Waugh gave a long answer, explaining that he didn’t believe LIV leadership knew or understood the process—“I’m not saying that’s their fault’’—and that it doesn’t take place quickly.

LIV first applied in July 2022 and throughout the process believed it should have been dealt with more quickly. Last October, the OWGR announced it was denying the bid, citing deficiencies in the LIV structure.

“There are two fundamental things that we weren't sure we could solve for with math, which was relegation and promotion, and what that looked like because that was murky … so we never knew the percentages of what that would look like.

“And secondly, just the inherent conflict of team versus individual play and whether that could create a situation, and it actually became public last year when one of the players (Sebastian Munoz at the LIV event in Orlando) talked about trying to two-putt as opposed to trying to make a putt to win a tournament. He was trying to two-putt for his team.

“So we went back with that and told them if they could solve that or we could engage on it. Kind of went back and forth a few times, but they didn't change their position. We didn't really change ours. We've had very serious conversations about it, and then without telling us publicly, they have withdrawn their application.

“So I don't think OWGR's job is to seek out tours to do that, and if they wanted to reapply, we'd certainly entertain it. We've behaved properly. Kerry sits on the technical committee that reviews all this stuff and we have behaved properly. It's very cordial. It's not a war. I don't want to pretend that. They were responsive, too, but they didn't get an answer that they wanted.

“So that's kind of where it is.”

Bob Harig is a golf writer for SI.com and the author of the book "DRIVE: The Lasting Legacy of Tiger Woods," which publishes in March and can be ordered here. 

Follow si_golf

US PGA Championship 2024: Fantasy DP World Tour ones to watch

All eyes are on Valhalla this week for the US PGA Championship. But who are you picking in your team on the DP World Tour's official Fantasy game for the second men's Major of the year?

The 106th  US PGA Championship  returns to Valhalla Golf Club this week for the second men’s Major Championship of the season, marking the fourth time Valhalla has played host, tied for second most in the history of the event.

Last year, it was Brooks Koepka who claimed his third US PGA Championship title with a two-shot victory over Viktor Hovland and Scottie Scheffler at Oak Hill Country Club. In doing so, he became the sixth player to win the championship on three or more occasions - joining Walter Hagen and Jack Nicklaus (five), Tiger Woods (four), Gene Sarazen and Sam Snead (three).

He returns in form and with a recent victory under his belt, but he'll have stiff competition in his title defence, going up against an in form Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler, who both have back-to-back wins heading into this week.

The last time the tournament was played at Valhalla it was McIlroy who took home the trophy, and ten years on from that triumph he'll be hoping to replicate that as he goes in search of a fifth Major title. Meanwhile, World Number One Scottie Scheffler will be looking to continue his dominance after winning The Masters last month.

Elsewhere, Jordan Spieth has a chance to complete the Grand Slam with victory this week, while several DP World Tour stars head across the pond looking to impress - including Asian Swing winner Sebastian Soderberg. So who should feature in your Fantasy Team this week? We've selected our Favourite, our Form Horse and our Wildcard to help you with that choice!

To play Fantasy DP World Tour, click here .

If you have not done so already, you can sign up to play the official 2024 DP World Tour Fantasy game and submit your six-man team before the first round gets under way on Thursday: https://fantasy.dpworldtour.com/

The 2024 season-long winner will win a trip to the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai next year, enjoy a lesson with a DP World Tour professional and a round of golf on the Earth course at Jumeirah Golf Estates. For more information on this amazing prize and others, read here .

Fantasy Insight: As it stands, World Number One Scottie Scheffler is the favourite for players of our _ Fantasy Game this week , featuring in 84.52% of teams. _Only two other players have been picked by more than 50% of users, with Ludvig Aberg in 69% of teams and four-time Major winner Rory McIlroy in 65.35%.

Favourite - Scottie Scheffler

The World Number One is unquestionably the favourite to earn a second leg of the Grand Slam this week, and arrives to the Louisville venue having just become a new dad to son Bennett with his wife Meredith.

Scheffler, who is a four-time winner already this year, comes to the second Major of the year with back-to-back victories to his name. Having earned his second Green Jacket with a second Major win at The Masters in April, Scheffler followed up with another immediately triumph at the RBC Heritage.

The American hasn't finished worse than T17 in 2024, and leads the PGA Tour in Strokes Gained Total, Tee To Green, Approach the Green and Around the Green. The only question mark around Scottie is his consistency on the greens - currently ranked 97th on Tour in that category - but with multiple wins already under his belt, that hasn't been a detrimental factor!

Form horse - Rory McIlroy

The Northern Irishman returns to the scene of his 2014 PGA Championship triumph at Valhalla this week as he goes in search of his first Major since he claimed that title here ten years ago.

He arrives in Kentucky in exceptional form with two consecutive wins to his name, having claimed both the Zurich Class with Shane Lowry two weeks ago and last week's Wells Fargo Championship.

With top tens in seven of his last nine Major championships - including his last two PGA Championships - McIlroy himself said it feels like the stars are somewhat aligning when it comes to his chances this week. And it helps that this is a venue where he's had success.

“Going to a venue next week where I have won, it feels like the stars are aligning a little bit," he said.

"But I have a lot of golf to play and a lot of great players to try to beat. I am going into the next Major of the year feeling really good about myself.”

Wildcard - Sebastian Soderberg

Sebastian Söderberg may have seen victory slip away at the Volvo China Open but a third successive top-five finish meant he topped the Asian Swing Rankings to earn a spot in his first Major since the 2022 U.S. Open Championship.

The Swede is on a hot streak, and while this might be his first Major in two years and his US PGA Championship debut, there's no doubt that his form is one of the best leading into this event. In his last three starts on the DP World Tour, Soderberg had back-to-back runner-up finishes at the Hero Indian Open and ISPS HANDA-Championship, before his recent tie for third at the Volvo China Open.

Having not missed a cut since July last year, Soderberg also ranks first on the DP World Tour for Stroke Average, Total Strokes Gained, Birdies and Par three scoring, second for Strokes Gained Putting, and fourth for both Strokes Gained Approach and Strokes Gained Tee to Green.

And while he hasn't been in the winner's circle since the 2019 Omega European Masters, he's certainly got the form to do something special this week.

DP World Tour Partners