Perhaps a deal between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf is imminent.
Maybe that is why 14 LIV players are teeing it up this week at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at St. Andrews, a DP World Tour event. Or why PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan and Yasir al-Rumayyan, the Governor of the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), will play in the same pairing on Thursday at Carnoustie as part of this pro-am.
Regardless, Rory McIlroy, who has repeatedly said a deal between the tour and the PIF is needed to end golf’s current schism, echoed this sentiment again on Wednesday in Scotland.
“I think at this point in time, change is needed to drive the game forward,” McIlroy told BBC Northern Ireland.
“Hopefully, we can get to that point.”
McIlroy added that he hoped a resolution could be found “before year’s end,” which, ironically enough, was the original deadline set forth a year ago. In the bombshell framework agreement unveiled by Monahan and al-Rumayyan on Jun. 6, 2023, a clause included a provision that the two sides would strike a concrete deal by Dec. 31, 2023. However, that deadline has come and gone without a deal. When pressed about that at last month’s Tour Championship, Monahan said that no deadline exists, adding, “I don’t think we want to restrict ourselves that way.”
Nevertheless, McIlroy noted that the Home of Golf is a perfect location for the golfing world to reunite.
“I think it’s a great thing and a good sign that Jay and Yasir are going to play together. And obviously, you’ve got quite a big contingent over from LIV playing in this event,” McIlroy added.
“They both want the same thing too. It’s a matter of getting all the different constituents on board.”
Of course, a deal of this magnitude that involves so much capital and the U.S. government is very complex.
“Maybe it’s going too slow for the people that follow golf. In the business world, deals of this size take time. You are talking about billions of dollars changing hands, different jurisdictions,” McIlroy said.
“I think we’ll know a lot more by year’s end. We’re in October, so hopefully [there’s] three months to get something done.”
Granted, Billy Horschel and Matt Fitzpatrick opined that not much deal-making will occur during this event. Monahan is Horschel’s partner this week. But at least golf’s power brokers, as well as some of the best players in the world, such as McIlroy, Jon Rahm, and Brooks Koepka, are all in the same locale, something that should give golf fans hope.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
