The PGA Tour has confirmed it will advance talks with the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund despite the poaching of Jon Rahm - while also announcing it has formally agreed to continue negotiations with an outside investment group including Liverpool FC owners Fenway Sports Group.
PGA chiefs have been locked in negotiations with the Saudi PIF for most of the year, having announced an earth-shattering merger in the summer, which would put an end to golf's civil war. However, the announcement was only the framework of a deal, and the deadline is fast approaching for all the legalities to be ironed out.
The two parties have until December 31 to reach a deal, and things were made even more complicated last week when Masters champion Rahm defected to the Saudi Arabia-funded breakaway, earning a signing bonus in the region of £450million as he went.
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Rahm's defection seemed to be the last straw for the PGA Tour and signalled the organisation being backed into a corner, with few big-name stars remaining and sponsors pulling out of events. Players on both sides seemed desperate to get a merger agreement sorted as soon as possible, but now it seems the PGA could be looking elsewhere for outside investment.
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A statement released late on Sunday night confirmed the PGA had opted to continue negotiations with Strategic Sports Group, a group of investors eager to pump money into the sport to combat the rising threat of LIV. The group consists of a number of American-based investors, including FSG, Tom Werner, John Henry and Tom Ricketts.
In a memo sent to PGA Tour members on Sunday, the organisation hinted an agreement with LIV could still come to fruition quickly. The memo read: "“We also anticipate advancing our negotiations with PIF in the weeks to come. Further, the DP World Tour will continue to be an important part of the process as we build toward PGA TOUR Enterprises.”
PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan is under significant pressure and has announced an update on the LIV Golf merger (Getty Images)Announcing the negotiations with SSG is a risky move from the PGA Tour, as it risks upsetting the PIF during a tense period of negotiations. The majority of players and executives involved are desperate for a merger to take place and end the civil war within the sport.
Currently, LIV players are unable to obtain Official Golf World Ranking Points, thus limiting their ability to qualify for major championships and, in Cameron Smith's case, the 2024 Olympic Games. The current stalemate also limits the amount of times golf fans can see the best players in the world compete against each other.
There's also the unavoidable Ryder Cup problem for players in team Europe, who will have forfeited their DP World Tour cards upon joining the Saudi breakaway and therefore aren't eligible for selection. That was the case in Rome earlier this year with Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood and Sergio Garcia all unavailable, and it seems Rahm will now face the same issue ahead of 2025 at Bethpage, New York.
Even the firmest of LIV Golf critics are now sensing the need for a merger, with the Golf Channel's Brandel Chamblee admitting the time has come for an agreement to be made. Speaking in the aftermath of Rahm's move, he stressed the need for a swift resolution.
He said: "Well, I hope the LIV deal goes through now. It's obviously the best thing for the PGA Tour. If it goes through it remains to be seen whether LIV lives or not. If it doesn’t, it looks like Rahm was the strategic play that LIV needed to make to bring this merger together because each side has something the other side wants.
"Obviously the PGA Tour would like an infusion of money but LIV looks at the PGA Tour and what they see as a seat at the table, legitimacy, legacy.
Jon Rahm's move to LIV Golf has given the PGA Tour a sense of urgency in merger talks (AP)“Every one of the 50 million golfers in the world knows about the history of the PGA Tour. They have the respect and recognition of commercial entities, broad commercial entities, whereas there is a lot of pushback for Saudi Arabia involvement in some of those avenues.
"So Saudi Arabia gets an immediate seat at the table and the respect and recognition of partnering with the single best golf entity in the world. So they both have something that they want.”
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