Some clearly expected the PGA Tour and the PIF to announce a deal which would mark the moment the game of golf came back together last week, with the two sides involved in talks at the White House.
For a little while, it seemed that the long-awaited agreement between the PGA Tour and the owners of LIV Golf had nearly got across the line. It was striking how Tiger Woods claimed that a deal was close while at the Genesis Invitational.
Talks involving Donald Trump took place at the White House on Thursday. And it seemed that there was real optimism that a deal would get done. NBC were prepared to cut away from the Mexico Open to bring an announcement of any agreement, while there were even reports that LIV stars could feature at the Players Championship next month.
However, talks did not go as well as hoped.
Billy Horschel makes claim about talks between the PGA Tour and the PIF
Given how long fans have waited for a concrete resolution, the news would have been incredibly frustrating to hear. And they would be forgiven for refusing to put any stock in any further suggestions that hurdles have been cleared.
Speaking on 5 Clubs, Billy Horschel admitted that he can understand how fans have become annoyed with the current situation, but did offer an encouraging assessment.
“Yeah, I think a deal’s imminent. I said this at the ’22 Scottish Open, I think it was, when I first addressed this whole LIV situation and PIF. At that time, I said about five years down the road I could see us coming together and figuring out how to make things work. Obviously, it’s happened a little bit sooner. It was 18 months ago that we agreed to figure something out, and here we are almost two years later now that we’re still trying to figure this out,” he said.
“I do believe a deal’s imminent. I do believe playing with Yasir at Dunhill and understanding his views of golf and seeing how much passion he has for the game of golf, he just wants to be in the game of golf. I guess you’ve heard it so many times, he wants a seat at the table and so I think there’s some way to make this work. Obviously, as fans, I’m a player and I’m in it, but I’m also a golf fan, I can see how golf fans are disenchanted and tired of hearing about, ‘well, there’s a deal coming, there’s a deal coming’.
“Listen, there’s a lot of little things they’ve got to figure out, and it’s not just a click of the fingers that we can make this easy. I believe it’s going to come. Hopefully, it’s over the next month or two. Hopefully, it’s sooner that we can announce something. Like I said, I don’t know everything that’s going on. But I know we’re close and hopefully we can get something done and we can bring the game of golf back together.”
What Horschel said in 2022 about how some LIV Golf players felt about their moves
Like Rory McIlroy, Horschel’s stance on the split in the game has evolved significantly over the years. He was one of the most outspoken critics of LIV Golf, particularly in the early stages.
In fact, the 2014 FedEx Cup champion claimed in 2022 that he was aware of some players who regretted their decision to jump to LIV and said they had been let down by their representatives.
“Some of these agents led their guys down a bad road. And when I say a bad road, they didn’t give them the entire information, they didn’t play devil’s advocate the way they should have,” he said.
“I think the agents saw dollar signs and wanted to cash in on their side of it as well. Some of those agents did, I would say, give bad information. I know some players regret listening to agents.”
LIV has developed considerably as the years have gone by, and you would imagine that there would be more criticism than there has been if the players were truly unhappy. With that, it is no surprise that those who remained loyal to the PGA Tour have changed their views as time has gone on.
LIV does not appear to be going anywhere, and Horschel is one of those who recognises that a resolution is desperately needed.
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