More Weekly Read: A Masters Champion Returns to Golf

Angel Cabrera served more than two years in jail and said he hopes to play again at Augusta.

More Weekly Read: Optimism Around Tiger | Signature Events Coming

A two-week holiday break is upon us but that doesn’t mean business won’t be conducted during that time.

Whether or not a deal between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia occurs—and by a Dec. 31 deadline—is unclear.

And then there’s the other deal the Tour is trying to reach with the Strategic Sports Group, a private-equity vehicle that is separate from the PIF but could make a deal with the Saudi wealth fund more palatable for them and U.S. regulatory agencies.

A week ago, the Tour announced it was in exclusive negotiations with SSG to be a minority investor in PGA Tour Enterprises, the for-profit entity that is being formed in which the PIF would also be an investor. That deal does not have a Dec. 31 deadline, but it would seem there is some parallel timeline for both.

Extending the deadline would seem inevitable but Tiger Woods, a player director on the PGA Tour Policy Board, said Saturday that the parties are working ahead with that deadline in mind.

"As of right now, that is our time frame and our deadline," he said. "That as set forth back in early June, and that hasn’t changed."

That is when the "framework agreement" was first announced. What is unclear is if the deal blows up if the deadline is not met. That seems unlikely, as does the idea that this entire scenario is incredibly complicated and will need more time.

Despite reports that there were going to meet the last two weeks, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and Yasir Al Rumayyan, the governor of the PIF, have not had their in-person meeting. It is not clear if they will this week. That doesn’t mean other key players in the negotiations have not been working on this.

But it does appear we might get into 2024 without any concrete idea of how this will look. And even when we do get that kind of information, it would seem a long period is necessary to figure out the details and get a new for-profit system in place.

And a Few More Things ...

> Louis Oosthuizen made it two in a row and five consecutive wins for LIV Golf players on the DP World Tour after his victory at the Mauritius Open in South Africa, one week after winning the Alfred Dunhill Championship.

That followed consecutive victories by fellow South African Dean Burmester, who also plays for LIV Golf. And then there was Joaquin Niemann’s win at the Australian Open. All five of those events are co-sponsored by the DP World Tour and part of the circuit’s six-event "Opening Swing" which started last month and concluded Sunday.

Oosthuizen and Burmester are teammates on the all-South African Stinger GC LIV Golf team. Niemann is captain of Torque GC.

The other event not won by a LIV player was the Australian PGA, captured by Min Woo Lee, who is taking up PGA Tour membership in 2024. All of the players were able to compete due to the co-sanctioning status and sponsor invites.

The DP World Tour now takes a three-week break before resuming with the International Swing in Dubai.

Angel Cabrera played in a PGA Tour Latinoamerica event :: Jon Austria/USA TODAY Network

> Former Masters champion Angel Cabrera played competitive golf for the first time since being released from jail Aug. 4, where he spent more than two years due to gender violence cases involving two former girlfriends. Cabrera, 54, tied for 10th at the Coast Open, a tournament on the PGA Tour Latinoamerica developmental circuit. The event was played in Rosario in his native Argentina.

In an interview with Golf Digest, Cabrera expressed his desire to return to the Masters, where he won in 2009 in a playoff over Kenny Perry and Chad Campbell. Cabrera is in need of a U.S. visa and hopes to return to competition on the PGA Tour Champions, where he last competed in 2020. It is unclear if Augusta National will invite him or if the PGA Tour will impose any sanctions.

He also expressed remorse for his "serious mistakes."

"But I’ve also paid my debts," he said. "I'm going to work as hard as I can to clean up my image. I want to recover the stature I had as an athlete."

> The start to the 2024 PGA Tour season at the Sentry is in 17 days. And the first round of the Masters is 115 days away.