19 November 2023 , 22:56
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LIV Golf loyalist Ian Poulter was seen brushing shoulders with a PGA Tour rival, as the Englishman joined Collin Morikawa at the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Poulter was in Vegas to watch Formula 1's long-awaited return to Sin City, and was seen making his way away around the McLaren team setup prior to the Sunday's race. In doing so, the LIV star bumped into one of his former PGA Tour associates in Morikawa.
European Ryder Cup stalwart Poulter documented his weekend at the Las Vegas trip on his Instagram, and nodded towards former Open champion Morikawa after uploading a picture of the pair together in the paddock.
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He added the caption: "You never know who you [are going] to bump into in the paddock. Great to catch up @collin_morikawa." Poulter and Morikawa have found themselves on opposite sides of golf's recent civil war with the Englishman making the LIV move, whilst Morikawa opted to stay put with the PGA Tour.
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After one of the ugliest 12 months in golf history, it appeared a truce was finally called in June after the PGA Tour announced it had reached a framework agreement with LIV backers, the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia (PIF).
The deal with PIF is set to bring the PGA Tour and DP World Tour together with their LIV rivals, under one for-profit entity named 'NewCo'. The agreement came as quite the shock to many within the world of golf, after the Tour's bosses had spent over a year attempting to thwart the progress of the Saudi state and breakaway league.
Those who joined the LIV setup were suspended by the PGA Tour within minutes of the Saudi-backed league's opening event at Centurion last summer, and speaking at the St Albans event this campaign Poulter was quick to remind Tour bosses that LIV's players are not ready to forgive and forget despite the proposed truce.
"People need to be accountable for their actions,” Poulter said at LIV London in July. “It would definitely help. I’m not going to say what those changes have to be but I think we would add value to a tournament if we were to play. Shall we say, there needs to be changes.”
On the back of the framework announcement in June, the negotiations between the PGA Tour and PIF remain ongoing. An initial deadline of December 31 was initially set by those involved, but numerous reports have claimed this is set to be missed with talks taking longer than first thought.
In recent weeks it has also emerged that the Saudi fund face competition when it comes to going into business with the PGA Tour. Earlier this month, Owners of the Boston Red Sox and Liverpool FC, Fenway Sports Group (FSG) confirmed they had shown interest in being involved in the Tour's new for-profit entity.
FSG made a move into the world of golf earlier this year after taking charge of Boston Common, one of six teams involved in the soon-to-be-launched innovative golf league, TGL. One of the league's co-founders is PGA Tour star Rory McIlroy, and the Northern Irishman is one of four players playing for the Boston setup.
Despite the interest from his team owners, McIlroy told CNBC that he hoped PIF would be involved in the finalised deal in some capacity. "Obviously, there’s been other suitors that have been involved and offering their services and their help. But hopefully, when this is all said and done, I sincerely hope that the PIF are involved and we can bring the game of golf back together."