PGA Tour's Jay Monahan insists talks with PIF and LIV Golf are 'stronger,' but deal will still 'take time'
Though he insists they are “actively engaged” in “enhanced” talks lately, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan had no real update about the proposed deal between the league and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund on Wednesday.
Monahan was asked about the status of negotiations between the Tour and the PIF, which backs LIV Golf, repeatedly at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, the site of the Tour Championship this week. That came about nine months after the group flew past their initial Dec. 31 deadline for a deal, and not much has changed since then.
“I would say that the priority, it’s been enhanced. It’s stronger,” Monahan said on Wednesday at East Lake Golf Club ahead of the Tour Championship. “That’s a direct result of dialogue and conversation and really starting to talk about the future, future product vision and where we can take our sport.
“I think when you get into productive conversations, that enhances the likelihood of positive outcomes and that enhances the spirit of those very conversations. I think that’s where things stand.”
Monahan’s comments on Wednesday were nothing new. He said a version of the same thing a few weeks ago at TPC Southwind, so it’s unclear if anything has actually changed since then. There is also no new deadline for a deal.
“I don’t think we want to restrict ourselves that way,” Maonahan said. “We want to achieve the best and right outcome at the right time.”
Jay Monahan: A deal with LIV Golf will 'continue to take time'
Monahan first shocked the golf world last summer when he announced that he had struck a "framework agreement" for a partnership between the Tour, the DP World Tour and the PIF — which came after years of a tumultuous battle within the sport.
After missing their deadline last December, the Tour has formed a “transaction subcommittee” that was said to focus on day-to-day negotiations with the PIF. Monahan and several players, including Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods, are on that committee. The Tour released its 2025 schedule earlier this month, which Monahan said was a sign that the two leagues would keep operating separately next year.
The Tour has since received an influx of cash to keep up with the PIF, too. It launched PGA Tour Enterprises, a for-profit organization, after receiving up to $3 billion investment from Strategic Sports Group. That’s created a pathway for players to actually take part ownership in the Tour, among other things.
It's unclear what's holding up the negotiations specifically. According to ESPN's Mark Schlabach, significant "sticking points" in the talks are related to the future of team golf and whether or not LIV Golf members could return to the PGA Tour without discipline. Monahan, though, didn't get into specifics on Wednesday.
So when the deal happens, if it does at all, is still anybody’s guess. Based on Monahan's comments this week, there's no real end in sight here.
But the important thing, he said, is that all sides are still at the table.
"We're in regular dialogue," Monahan said. "We have the right people at the table with the right mindset. I see that in all of these conversations, and that's both sides. That creates optimism about the future and our ability to come together. But at the same time, these conversations are complex. They're going to take time. They have taken time, and they will continue to take time."
