Perhaps there is now light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to the PGA Tour and PIF reaching a deal which brings an end to the game’s civil war.
Golf fans have been waiting for news of a deal for the previous 18 months ever since the PGA Tour and PIF stunned the golfing world and announced the framework agreement. Of course, many fans have grown tired of the divide which has meant that some of the world’s best players only face off a handful of times a year.
There have been some false dawns. Reports in November suggested that PIF had agreed to pay £1 billion for an 11 percent stake in the PGA Tour, with LIV Golf events set to be played under its banner. But it seems that those claims may have been premature.
It is Bloomberg who have provided the latest update, reporting this week that talks have reached an advanced stage. Interestingly, it is suggested that PIF are looking set to secure a six percent stake in PGA Tour Enterprises.
Why the mooted deal between the PGA Tour and PIF is so ‘frustrating’
Obviously, some will welcome the idea of the game coming back together in the near future. However, speaking on CBS’ The First Cut Podcast, Greg DuCharme has suggested that the reports do not appear to resolve a great deal.
“This is the frustrating aspect of this news, because the stuff that we care about, the stuff that golf fans care about, the stuff that everybody is interested in, is what this looks like. Nobody cares what the percentages are, or what the dollar amount invested is,” he said.
“Nobody cares what the purse is at a golf tournament. We care about what happens inside the ropes, we care about who wins and who loses, we care about the structure of the competitive landscape: is golf going to go on its same journey? Is it going to do some innovative things to improve or try to improve? What is it going to look like? And these headlines just don’t give you that. I think the reason, in large part, has to do with what you said Rick; it’s probably not going to look a whole lot different.
“I understand, and have thought for a long time, if the Public Investment Fund is going to invest a significant portion, if they’re going to be a 25 percent shareholder in the PGA Tour Enterprises, or a 50 percent shareholder or some major stakeholder in this, have the chair position, whatever you want to call all that lingo, then the only way that that makes sense is for LIV to go away or the PGA Tour and LIV to become one. Because why would you invest so much into LIV and so much into the PGA Tour when they’re competing against each other? Anytime one of your organisations wins, the other loses. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.
“So I don’t really understand the angle from the Public Investment Fund side, I know they want a seat at the table. If this is true, they have a seat, a small seat, but it doesn’t seem like it really changes a whole lot, which is frustrating news. Because does it really take 18 months to decide that it’s going to be six percent? What were they deciding between: four and eight? Why has this taken so long?”
So many big questions remain
It is going to be really intriguing to see what the golfing calendar looks like if a deal is struck. Clearly, there is not a great deal that can be done for 2025, with both the PGA Tour and LIV Golf setting out their schedules for the upcoming season.
But, as DuCharme suggests, this kind of agreement would surely see LIV Golf continue to run their events. And it seems inevitable that both tours will have to overlap at times, particularly when you factor the DP World Tour into the mix.
It arguably leaves a question mark over the point of LIV Golf if they have some PGA Tour players dipping in and playing a handful of events, particularly if they are taking places from those on the established teams.
Meanwhile, there may be some bitterness if the PGA Tour opens the door for LIV players when they are reducing the number of players who automatically keep their cards each year to 100 from 2026.
Obviously, not everyone was going to be happy whatever the outcome of a deal was. But clearly, sticking largely with what has become the status quo appears to offer little upside to the golf fans.
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