12 March 2024 , 17:07
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PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan has confirmed negotiations are ongoing and "accelerating" with the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund (PIF) over a merger deal.
Progress has been slow since the bombshell announcement nine months ago that the tour had entered into a framework agreement with the PIF, which bankrolls the breakaway LIV Golf circuit. Numerous deadlines have passed without a final deal being agreed.
In the interim, the tour has completed a $3billion (£2.4b) investment deal with the Strategic Sports Group consortium, which is fronted by Fenway Sports Group, the owners of Liverpool and the Boston Red Sox. But Monahan confirmed at a rare press conference on Tuesday ahead of The Players at TPC Sawgrass the tour still intends to create formal ties with PIF.
"As I have said on numerous occasions, you can't negotiate a deal like this in public, so I will be brief," he said. "I recently met with the governor of the PIF, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, and our negotiations are accelerating as we spend time together. While we have several key issues that we still need to work through, we have a shared vision to quiet the noise and unlock golf's worldwide potential.
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"It's going to take time, but I reiterate what I said at the Tour Championship in August. I see a positive outcome for the PGA Tour and the sport as a whole. Most importantly, I see a positive outcome for our great fans."
Monahan has faced firm criticism from fans and players for his handling of the LIV Golf saga, and he admitted at Sawgrass that he had made mistakes. But he insists the tour has only improved since the merger deal was announced and he has become a "stronger leader" through the process.
Monahan said he recently met with PIF governor and LIV Golf Chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan as merger negotiations continue (Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)"There are always things when you look back that you would do differently. It is something I have talked to our players about, but obviously, when you look back to last summer, I could have handled that better and I have taken full responsibility and accountability for that. That's on me.
"But we've moved on and we have made so much progress since that point in time. I have learned from it, I've been humbled by it, I think I've gotten stronger as a leader and I couldn't be more excited about the progress we have made since that time.
"This is a very complicated business when you have 200-plus members, more than 100 corporate partners, 50 tournament organisations, and communities you're responsible for. I'm really proud of our players and my team members and we're just trying to get better every single day.
"I feel as an organisation, we've come a long way in the past several months and I expect the next time I'm in front of all of you, we'll have a lot more progress to report."