Look, don’t keep your breath. Do not cancel your plans. But SOMETHING It is, finally, between PGA Tour and Liv Golf.
“Well, it is difficult for me to say that I did not underestimate how long it would take into account that we are here in February 2025,” PGA Commissioner Jay Monahan said during a group of reporters ahead Genesis Invitational Wednesday. That was an underestimation. There are foods that cannot be broken that have gone badly since the infamous frame arrangement was signed on both sides of the Great Golf War in June 2023. But on Wednesday, Monahan, who has largely offered non -updated several times the last we have heard from him, made his statement the safest yet for him the future of men’s professional golf. And focused on a word: reunion.
The catalyst for Monahan’s comments seemed to be a meeting he and Adam Scott had with President Trump last week, a meeting mediated by Tiger Woods who called Monahan a “productive visit” in a statement before elaborating Wednesday.
“That he responds to our request to sit down and talk about how we achieve what he publicly declared as a goal, which is the golf game operating under a tour with all the best players That they played in that tour was a great opportunity, ”said Monahan.
The president sits at the center of a startling number of concentric circuits regarding the Liv-Pga Tour division. His courses are expecting some liv events and for years he was the host of a PGA Tour event. He lives in Palm Beach County, the unofficial golf capital. Livi’s stars like Bryson Dechambeau and Dustin Johnson participated in his nightlife celebrations, while he played Golf with a pro -pro -weeks parade and since, including Rory Mcilroy in January and Woods last week. Trump has also had business relationships with Saudi Arabia who dates from well before his first term as president and well before the invention of the Liv. Golf is never far from the top of his mind.
How can that positioning help to advance a deal?
“Number one, you look at his passion for the game, his knowledge and understanding of the game, he is very popular with PGA Tour, he is very familiar with the team in the public investment fund. Like us, he has a view Very clear of what should happen and he wants to help, ”Monahan said. “I think the meeting ultimately brings us closer a step closer to a deal being made,” he added, “but there is much more work to do.”
Okay, so there was still a healthy dose of care.
“I don’t think you are sometimes close until you are over,” Monahan said. Still – “When you look at all the parties involved, there is a general enthusiasm to do so.”
Monahan doubled and tripled in this idea that reunion is what he wants and where the golf is directed.
“If you think what fans want, fans want reunion,” Monahan said. “This is what we are concentrated. We operated in a world where there are more than one (tour) and PGA Tour has performed very well, but in the long run is that the best thing for fans? Is this the best thing about the game? We are trying to solve it, so everyone benefits. “
The tournament and its senior ambassadors are following the same playbook book as leaders from other industries who have announced to Trump in the weeks and months since its election. Even in their initial statement, Monahan, Scott and Woods went out of their way to thank the president for his leadership, and Monahan mentioned on Wednesday that he “could probably see one day” when the tournament would return to the places Trump half a decade away and he added that he “doubts” will have further meetings with the president on the same topic.
Monahan said he has a clear vision for the future of the game, though he punished in his discovery on a “future date”. But he was inclined to show that the tournament has adopted significant changes in the last few years; More changes are clearly part of the plan.
“Listen, we have introduced meeting This year. We’ve gone from a 44-45-week schedule to a core schedule 34-week FedExcup. We are in partnership with the Tour World DP, an alliance that is very important to us, where we are investing time, we are investing capital and continuing to make the world tournament stronger, “he said. Incredible events in that schedule. Make changes. “
What is clear is that in the version of Monahan’s events, the initial part of the PIF-PGA Tour Agreement-an investment by the Saudi Sovereign Property Fund, in which Liv and PGA Tour join in a single entity. Monahan added that he has spent “a lot of time” with PIF governor (and Liv leader) Yasir al-Rumayyan, implying that he was on board with whatever Monahan vision in mind.
“I think I met him maybe close to a dozen time last year, I knew the man very well and I think we see things the same way,” he said. “But I probably don’t want to talk about it.”
Monahan was finally asked about the new Liv CEO, Scott O’Neil, who has received a more conciliatory tone early in his mandate and highlighted his previous relationship with Monahan.
“I would say a lot of the people I have a lot of respect for this are in this industry think a lot about Scott,” Monahan said. “I am used to knowing it over the years. He reached me the first day he took on his role and I think that if you just look at his success in the past, I think he is nothing but additive and will be an important part of this as we go ahead . “
Rory Mcilroy spoke to the media an hour before Monahan; While he had a high question for the Commissioner – “What will we do with one and a half billion (raised last year)?” – He painted a clearer picture of the future of the Pro game.
“At what happened has happened and has been unfortunate, but reunion, as we all come back together and move forward, this is the best thing for everyone,” he said. Would this be the complex, reintegrating the detained players into the PGA Tour? “From my point of view, no, I don’t think it’s at all complicated.”
The biggest question with the slightest answer is what would happen to Liv in this reunited world. “Do they get a smaller part of the schedule, maybe … are there certain markets where we try to choose the best cherries that make sense and try to do something with them? “Mcilroy said. “As I continue to say, this is over my salary class these days.”
There are even more questions than answers. Again, for your safety: do not hold your breath. But something is happening – even if we don’t know exactly what.
“These things take time,” Monahan said. “Unfortunately, I continue to repeat it.”
Dylan Dothier is an elderly writer for Golf Magazine/Golf.com. Native Williamstown, Mass. Dothier is a graduate of Williams College, where he graduated in English, and he is the author of 18 in Americawhich details last year as an 18-year-old living out of his car and playing a round of golf in every state.
