‘LIV Is Full Steam Ahead’: Players Assured of League’s Future Even With PGA Tour Alliance

The head of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund reiterated in a meeting that LIV Golf would continue, and a multiyear deal with this week’s host course could be viewed as another sign of staying power.

SOTOGRANDE, Spain — Nothing in the yearlong saga of the DP World Tour, PGA Tour, LIV Golf and the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia is black and white.

The level of gray is like the gloomiest days in London when you can barely see Big Ben or in Paris when the Eiffel Tower is obstructed.

This is where we are with the framework agreement executedMay 30 and announced to the public June 6 in an interview on CNBC that included PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan and PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan.

Speculation since then has been all over the map, with the PGA Tour in meetings with its policy board and players, positioning themselves as the winner and in control of both the PGA Tour and the new company, which will be called PGA Tour Enterprises.

This is all in the five-page framework agreement, so it’s not a leap for the Tour to take that position.

LIV’s future and what happens with the players who took a leap is a little more doubtful and not crystal clear from the agreement.

While Al-Rumayyan’s fund hasn’t outlined how much of the PIF’s $750 billion will go into the PGA Tour or PGA Tour Enterprises’ coffers, he is expected get his money’s worth and have a substantial say.

Thursday after the LIV Golf pro-am at Real Golf Valderrama, Al-Rumayyan met in the clubhouse for about an hour with players Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, and Phil Mickelson; LIV commissioner Greg Norman; and other LIV officials.

“It's just nice to hear some answers on where things are going and just be up to date on everything, because it’s a lot easier when you’re hearing from everybody else,” Koepka says. “But when you actually hear from the person that knows what’s going on, it’s nice.”

The answers are that LIV is not going anywhere, which Al-Rumayyan has communicated to his players and executives for weeks, including before the June 6 announcement.

Just this week in Valderrama, LIV announced a new multiyear partnership with both the board of tourism for Andalucía and Valderrama Golf Club.

According to sources, the agreement is for three years with a two-year option.

The Majesticks, a team that includes Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, Henrik Stenson and Laurie Canter, just signed a global sponsorship deal with crypto exchange OKX.

These are just some examples that support claims that LIV will be around in 2024 and likely beyond.

“Obviously LIV is full steam ahead,” Johnson said after the meeting.

When asked about stories regarding the Tour’s running the show and controlling LIV’s future, Johnson was firm that those comments are inaccurate and all the conversation Wednesday was encouraging.

“It was all stuff that I assumed but just to hear it from His Excellency obviously just makes me a lot more confident and is what I thought, but just gives me that much more confidence in where we’re going and what we’re doing,” Johnson said. “I think LIV’s in a great spot right now, and it’s only gonna get better.”

Both Johnson and DeChambeau took away from the meeting that Al-Rumayyan wants to unite and not divide the professional game and the actions going forward are toward that goal.

“I think I can speak a little bit for all of us in that room. The general consensus is that we want the best for the game of golf,” DeChambeau says. “Coming to that decision that they all came to about potentially merging in between working something out together was the best thing and is the best thing for the game of golf. He made that abundantly clear.”

The realization is that the litigation and both sides fighting was not good for professional men’s golf and, while a partnership may not be easily found, working together in some way is paramount.

“The best thing we could do is try to work something out together, may not be merged, but it could be parallel lines,” DeChambeau said. “At this point, instead of trying to combat each other we’re moving in parallel lines. And that’s really the consensus of it. We were trying to figure out, obviously, if it [LIV] was going to continue and [Al-Rumayyan’s] wholehearted belief is if he's alive, it's still moving forward in the right direction.”