The long-discussed merger between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf still remains a hypothetical after the two sides were unable to agree to terms in their most recent talks.
Per ESPN’s Mark Schlabach, the PGA Tour recently rejected a $1.5 billion investment offer from the Saudi Public Investment Fund.
Schlabach noted a key divide between the parties right now is that the PGA Tour wants one premier golf circuit, while the Saudi PIF wants to keep LIV Golf intact in any potential deal.
The PGA Tour announced in June 2023 a “newly formed commercial entity” that would unify it with LIV Golf and the DP World Tour to combine all of the golf-related commercial businesses and rights under one umbrella.
That announcement also included a deadline to finalize terms of the agreement by Dec. 31, 2023. PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said in a memo to players on deadline day that all parties agreed to extend their negotiating window.
In January 2024, the PGA Tour completed a deal with the consortium Strategic Sports Group to bring in up to $3 billion to the PGA’s new for-profit entity. The agreement came while talks with LIV were still ongoing, with no indication any deal was close.
More recently, Monahan, Tiger Woods and Adam Scott met with President Donald Trump at the White House to discuss the proposed merger.
Rory McIlroy told reporters last month at the Arnold Palmer Invitational a deal hasn’t “ever felt that close” and right now “it doesn’t feel like it’s any closer.”
Brooks Koepka, who signed with LIV Golf in June 2022, said this week prior to the start of the LIV event in Florida he had hoped LIV would be “little bit further along” at this point, but he remains optimistic talks with the PGA Tour are “going in the right direction.”
All of this suggests there doesn’t seem to be a lot of uniformity among the many different parties involved in the merger talks. This isn’t to say a deal won’t get done, but it’s hard to see a light at the end of the tunnel nearly two years after the agreement was originally announced.
