In June 2023, PGA Tour chief executive Jay Monahan (who will be replaced later this summer by Brian Rolapp) and PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan stood in front of television cameras and announced a shock ‘framework agreement‘ that pledged to unify men’s professional golf. Two years on, very little has changed.
At the time, the announcement came out of the blue and felt extremely rushed and vague, almost irresponsibly so. Given what’s happened since, those with that initial view have been vindicated and then some.
It’s hard to know whether the lack of progress is down to legal factors, the sheer complication involved in untangling various interconnected wires, obstinacy on the part of the PGA Tour/PIF, a refusal to compromise or a combination of all the above.
In the last two years, a lot has changed… but also nothing has changed.
The PGA Tour has introduced signature events, modified purses, become a for-profit organisation, received billions in funding from the SSG (Strategic Sports Group), launched a player equity programme, shuffled its board, elected new player directors, started working with influencers and more.
The bottom line, however, is that LIV Golf and the PGA Tour are still separate entities and world-class talent is divided across the two circuits. Most would argue professional golf is less compelling than it was before the arrival of LIV. Anecdotal evidence and data on television viewership would support such a viewpoint.
So, what next? In February, Tiger Woods seemed fairly confident a resolution was imminent and Donal Trump met with Al-Rumayyan on at least one occasion. But it’s all gone quiet since then and Rory McIlroy extinguished the optimism in March when he said a deal “doesn’t feel like it’s any closer.”
I haven’t been privy to any discussions and I’m not well versed on the legal ramifications of any deal, but let’s put that to one side for the time being. On a practical and logistical level, how could things come back together?
If I were in charge and assuming there were no legal issues, my blueprint would be as follows (assuming that LIV continues)…
My plan to fix men’s professional golf
– Three-way collaboration and compromise on schedule:
Where possible, LIV events would sit separately to signature events…
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