MIAMI – PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said he had a “constructive” conversation on March 18 with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan about an investment in PGA Tour Enterprises.
The talks, which included players who are also on the PGA’s board of directors, represent “an important part of our due diligence process in selecting potential investors for PGA Tour Enterprises”, Monahan said in a memo to players reviewed by Bloomberg News.
He also said the approach mirrors what the PGA Tour did when evaluating an investment by the Strategic Sports Group (SSG), a consortium led by Fenway Sports Group that includes American sports team owners.
The Tour in January approved an investment of as much as US$3 billion (S$4.03 billion) by SSG in a transaction that values a new commercial entity at about US$12 billion, Bloomberg News reported.
Monahan added that Al-Rumayyan discussed “his vision, priorities and motivations for investing in professional golf”, without providing specifics.
Their meeting took place at the Albany, a resort in the Bahamas, according to a person familiar with the discussions, who asked not to be identified. The player-directors include golf great Tiger Woods and Jordan Spieth.
Monahan had said last week at The Players Championship that negotiations with the PIF, backers of LIV Golf, are “accelerating” as they agreed to meet on March 18.
“While we have several key issues that we still need to work through, we have a shared vision to quiet the noise and unlock golf’s worldwide potential,” he said then.
Meanwhile, Rory McIlroy sees a “really big disconnect” between LIV Golf and the PIF, but remains hopeful progress can be made in the fracture between the PGA Tour and its rival circuit as the game of golf tries to reunite.
“It should have happened months ago, so I am glad that it’s happening,” McIlroy said, of the meeting after his final round at The Players. “Hopefully, that progresses conversations and gets us closer to a solution.”
Men’s golf has been in upheaval since LIV Golf launched in June 2022. With significant financial resources, LIV Golf successfully recruited many of the PGA Tour’s biggest names, including the likes of Jon Rahm and Brooks Koepka.
McIlroy believes Al-Rumayyan’s point of view on negotiations and the future of the sport does not match with LIV officials such as CEO Greg Norman and others.
“I see the two entities, and I think there’s a big, a really big disconnect between PIF and LIV. You got PIF over here and LIV are sort of over here doing their own thing,” he said.
“So the closer that we can get to Yasir, PIF and, hopefully, finalise that investment, that will be a really good thing.” BLOOMBERG, REUTERS
