There are probably only a handful of people in the world who know truly where the balance of power lies between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf as talks between the two tours continue over a potential deal.
It has been almost three years since LIV Golf‘s first event, while it is approaching two years since the PIF and the PGA Tour stunned the golfing world by announcing the framework agreement.
Since then, there have been a number of false dawns when it comes to how close a deal between the two sides has been. But things appeared to change with the election of President Donald Trump.
Within a few weeks of Trump returning to Washington DC, the White House hosted talks between the PGA Tour and the PIF. And it seemed that there was an unprecedented amount of optimism – with Tiger Woods believing a deal was close. Meanwhile, it was even reported that LIV Golf stars could feature at the Players Championship.
Lee Trevino issues his verdict on the talks between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf
However, talks reportedly did not go as well as hoped. And clearly, every LIV player is in Singapore for the league’s event this week.
It was interesting that Rory McIlroy has since stated that the PGA Tour does not need a deal. The Northern Irishman seemed to be one of those particularly keen to see an agreement over the last 18 months.
And it would appear some would definitely agree with McIlroy, with Lee Trevino suggesting to Golf Channel that it is the PGA Tour who hold all the cards now.
“Let me tell you, I’m going to give a statement, probably should keep my mouth shut, but you know me, I’m ready all the time. Personally, golf is in a hell of a position right now,” he said.
“It is great. Our attendance is up, our ratings are up. The people are loving it, the players are playing faster. Television is doing a tremendous job, now, just this year, telecasting – hopefully the guy in there who’s doing all this is listening to me – instead of watching some guy lean on his putter at the back of the green, he’s showing somebody else hit a shot, because he has fans and a family also. And this is what I have seen, if we just get the caddie and the player to make a decision just a little bit quicker, we’ll be even better. We don’t want to go to the clock, I’m sure of that. But I’ll tell you something, our investors, we’ve got, what, $400 million new coming in, we’ve got all these things that have come up. Personally, just me and the gatepost coming from Mex, I think it’s dead. I think the other side is gone.”
The two stars LIV Golf cannot afford to lose back to the PGA Tour while talks continue
In truth, it is incredibly difficult to imagine LIV Golf going anywhere. They have made enough of an impact where it seems inevitable that they will have a seat at the table when deciding the game’s future.
And with the PIF behind the league, they are not going to be struggling to continue to bankroll the tour. Of course, they would probably have hoped to have become more profitable by now, but the crucial step has arguably been putting the foundations in place to be the second biggest tour in the world right now.
However, much may come down to how LIV’s star players feel about their own futures. There have been suggestions that Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka returning to the PGA Tour would be devastating for LIV. And it would surely be incredibly hard for the league to recover.
But the PGA Tour also has to be prepared. If talks end with no deal, it would be no surprise at all to see the PIF make one final – perhaps desperate – push to land a host of names which completely change the landscape again.
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