Reports of PGA Tour-PIF Deal Appear Premature, but New Details Are Intriguing

Over the weekend a London tabloid headline blared “Golf's Civil War OVER” in a story which has not been corroborated by the warring parties. But there's new information in it that's worth a closer look.

Are PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and Yasir Al-Rumayyan, Governor of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund and LIV Golf chairman, coming closer to ending pro golf's split? / Ross Parker/SNS Group via Getty Images

The next time Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of the Public Investment Fund that backs LIV Golf, speaks publicly about a deal with the PGA Tour will be the first time since the original “framework agreement” was announced on June 6, 2023, alongside Jay Monahan in New York.

The PGA Tour commissioner has taken questions but offered word-salad responses that suggest he’s confident while providing no real definitive answers on a possible deal. He last offered vague answers after playing with Al-Rumayyan at the Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland.

Tiger Woods, said to be heavily involved in the negotiations, has not spoken publicly since he missed the cut in July at the British Open.

And Rory McIlroy, who seemingly knows more than most and has offered up responses, has expressed frustration over the pace of the talks while acknowledging the holdups, such as U.S. Department of Justice matters.

In other words, there’s not been much new information on the lingering talks, which are approaching one year from when a deal was supposed to be finalized.

Then over the weekend, the London-based tabloid The Sun ran an unsourced story saying a deal is done. It has yet to be confirmed anywhere and there are some errors, but it includes some intriguing details that make you wonder.

“Golf’s Civil War OVER as Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods help negotiate £1BILLION peace deal between PGA Tour and LIV Golf,” blared the headline.

The story says the deal has to be approved by the PGA Tour players, which contradicts the headline. The proposed deal is also not with LIV Golf, an important distinction. It is with the PIF, which is not a minor point.

The original version said LIV Golf would fall under the direction of the PGA Tour, but updates to the story have omitted that phrasing.

And yet, last week, bunkered.co.uk reported that Monahan was in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, last week ahead of the Aramco Team Series women’s event. Sports Illustrated has confirmed that Monahan and others from the Tour attended the annual Future Investment Initiative (FII), which is annually run by the PIF.

It was at that conference where Al-Rumayyan announced that the PIF—said to be worth more than $720 billion—would shift future investment to domestic initiatives and no longer invest in foreign entities.

That was not viewed as a sign that the PIF will abandon LIV Golf.

But was there some credible info that leaked out?

The dollar figure reported is roughly $1.5 billion, which is in line with what many believed the PIF was willing to put into PGA Tour Enterprises. In return, The Sun reported that the PIF would get an 11% ownership stake, which works out to nearly exactly what is in line with the entity’s reported $12 billion valuation.

In exchange, the PIF would get two seats on the PGA Tour board, including one spot as chairman. That tracks with the original June 6, 2023, agreement which stipulated at least one board seat although one of those was supposed to be on the PGA Tour Inc. board—the non-profit entity separate from PGA Tour Enterprises. How that is resolved is unclear.

“The sweetener for golfers who stayed loyal to the PGA Tour is likely to be another massive cash injection into the £1.2bn fund created this year to reward those players,” The Sun wrote. “The DP World Tour will also benefit, as their ‘strategic alliance’ with the PGA Tour will be reinforced, with extra cash diverted for prize money.”

That fund is referring to the equity shares that are being awarded to players based on investment by the private equity company Strategic Sports Group, which in January agreed to spend $1.5 billion, with a commitment for another potential $1.5 billion.

The player equity program that was later announced will see various shares go to players but they need to vest between four and eight years. And the money is not just sitting there waiting for them. It needs to be earned through the profits of PGA Tour Enterprises, which means not only does that staggering sum need to be earned back and then some, but so does a return for SSG, and eventually, the PIF.

What’s unclear is if this means that more money would be directed to players who remained loyal to the PGA Tour and turned down LIV offers?

The story is intriguing but raises just as many questions as it answers.

In addition to the PIF never commenting on anything related to the negotiations, LIV Golf officials maintain they do not have any involvement with the talks. The PGA Tour did not comment on the report from The Sun.

Perhaps McIlroy, playing in Abu Dhabi this week on the DP World Tour, will shed some light but it’s possible all parties have been asked to stay mum.

Still be determined, seemingly: how will the game “come together” and allow the best players in the world to compete against one another more regularly? Will LIV Golf operate separately from the PGA Tour or be integrated in some way?  When would it all begin?

That’s a lot of questions.

The “Civil War” might be coming to an end but it is not quite over, either.

Inside the numbers

Matt Kuchar is currently 105th in the FedEx Cup standings with three events to go in the PGA Tour’s “FedEx Fall.” Ryan Fox is 108th. Michael Kim is 115th. They are all but certain to be fully exempt for the 2025 season. But a year from now, they’d likely be on the outside looking in.

The PGA Tour Policy Board is set to vote later this month on a proposal that would—among other things—see the number of fully exempt spots on the PGA Tour drop from 125 to 100.

As part of the proposal, the Korn Ferry Tour would see its exemptions go from 30 to 20, while field sizes will drop from 156 to 144 to 132 or even 120 players.

The result will be a leaner tour, and a highly competitive one. The coming year will be particularly difficult as a far bigger field of players with the 125 exemptions and beyond fighting for just those 100 spots.

While overall opportunities will be down, there should still be plenty of chances for players to get into tournaments, even if they are not fully exempt.

The X (formerly Twitter) site @Robopz typically tracks such things and did a simulation of how things might look for players in 2026 who finish outside of the top 100. While not accounting fully for the reshuffle category that sees players’ priority ranking change based on performance, it was determined that players in the 101 to 125 category would be likely to get a minimum of 18 PGA Tour starts.

The numbers, of course, are better with a higher priority ranking but the simulation determined the possibility of 21 or 22 starts before the FedEx Cup playoffs and then another seven in the fall. That’s 28 to 29 starts—for a player not fully exempt. Getting even 20 would be considered a win for most.

It won’t be easy, but this still offers a strong chance for a player to earn back his full PGA Tour card.

A player in this position also has other options. He can return to the PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament to try and earn one of five full PGA Tour cards. That also allows for status on the Korn Ferry Tour. Short of that, he could take a one-time, full-year exemption on the Korn Ferry Tour to try and earn one of those 20 spots, although the purse differential makes that a less desirable option.

And a player in this position could take advantage of an exemption to play on the DP World Tour, where up to five spots are available each regular week. And the DP World Tour offers 10 exempt spots on the PGA Tour for players not otherwise exempt.

This proposal will obviously get a lot of scrutiny. Monday qualifying spots will but cut back. So will some sponsor invites. The medical categories appear to be getting rolled back. As disclosed here previously, making fields smaller means the best of the best have fewer players to beat. But getting on tour will be more competitive—and yet there will still be numerous opportunities to get there.

DP World Tour playoffs

The DP World Tour is down to its final two events, starting with this week’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. A longtime stable in the early part of the schedule, the event has now moved to the fall for a season-ending run to the Race to Dubai being conducted in the United Arab Emirates.

The field is for the top 70 players in the yearlong points standings and features leader Rory McIlroy, who is in a strong position to defend his Race to Dubai title and win the tour’s order of merit for the sixth time. He leads Thriston Lawrence and Rasmus Højgaard.

According to the DP World Tour, there are still 37 players with a mathematical chance to win the seasonlong title, but it would require McIlroy to finish last in each of the next two weeks. Next week’s DP World Tour Championship is in Dubai.

Among some of the others participating are Adam Scott, Justin Rose, Shane Lowry, Tommy Fleetwood and Robert MacIntyre.

Players such as Lawrence and Højgaard are in line to earn PGA Tour cards that go to the top 10 players not otherwise exempt. Among those who are inside that number are the moment is Italy’s Matteo Manassero. They’d have dual membership, all of which will be determined after next week’s tournament in Dubai.