PGA Tour's Saudi Arabia deal doubts emerge as former major winner speaks out

31 October 2023 , 16:50

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The PGA Tour are negotiating with their Saudi rivals (Image: Getty Images)

Former major champion Davis Love III has cast doubt over the PGA Tour's proposed framework agreement with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia (PIF) meeting its December 31 deadline.

In June the PGA Tour confirmed it had reached an initial agreement with PIF, that would see them work in unison with their LIV Golf rivals, as well as their DP World Tour allies. After entering negotiations, the two sides were handed an end-of-year deadline to sign off on the deal.

As things stand though it appears things are not going as smoothly as first thought, with Love becoming the latest big-name star to have his say on the Tour's Saudi dealing.

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Speaking with Golfweek, the 1997 PGA Championship winner was asked whether he felt the deal would be completed before the December 31 cut off, to which he responded: "I don’t see any way.” The American also alluded to the slow pace of the ongoing negotiations. "The only thing I do know is nothing is going to happen really fast,” he added. The initial announcement left the world of golf in shock, after the PGA Tour had spent over a year attempting to thwart the Saudi state's growing impact in the game, including the rise of LIV.

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Now Jay Monahan and co have opted to team up with their former rivals, and one of the Tour's longest-standing players believes it is in fact the Saudis that are halting proceedings. "It’s just like the lawsuit: we’re never going to go to trial if they don’t ever do discovery. Our staff and players did discovery. They [PIF} refused.

Davis Love III had his say on the proposed deal (Getty Images)

“We [the PGA Tour] made an offer and if you don’t ever communicate, we can’t make another offer. It’s bizarre what’s going on. It’s a long way from anything. The sharks are circling. Now everyone wants to invest in the PGA Tour.” As Love mentioned there is also rival investors as well as the Saudi fund are interested in doing business with the Tour, and this was outlined to its playing members in a memo earlier this month.

Per ESPN, the memo read: "We remain focused on reaching a Definitive Agreement with PIF and the DP World Tour, but not surprisingly, these negotiations have resulted in unsolicited outreach and proposals from a number of other interested investors. All of this activity reinforces the Tour's strong position and our potential for growth."

Joshua Lees