Ahead of the FedEx St. Jude Championship at TPC Southwind — the first leg of the FedEx Cup Playoffs — PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan provided an update on the progress of talks with LIV Golf's backer, the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia.
Progress … or lack thereof.
Here's what Monahan told reporters in Memphis on Wednesday, about 14 months after the infamous framework agreement.
PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan on LIV Golf talks
The 2025 PGA Tour schedule, released Wednesday morning, looks almost identical to this year's. Its status quo nature, at the very least, doesn't indicate any imminent shake-ups to professional golf.
“They’re very complicated discussions,’’ Monahan said about negotiations with PIF. “There’s a lot of elements to them. When you have the level of interaction, we’re continuing to meet and move forward and discuss and debate, you can’t be anything but hopeful.
“As it relates to times and timeframes and where we are, I’ll just say we’re in a good place with the conversations. That’s the most important thing.’’
Monahan was asked if he had upcoming plans to engage with PIF, according to Sports Illustrated's Bob Harig.
“I have a lot of meetings on the subject,” the commissioner replied. “I’m not going to get into the specifics of it. It’s a clear focus of mine, it’s a clear focus of the organization. That said, there is a lot of dialogue.’’
Representatives from PIF and the PGA Tour — including Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods — have been talking for several months. Key LIV figures continue to push a long-term agenda, while certain PGA Tour stars appear committed to operating their enterprise independently.
In January, the PGA Tour secured $1.5 billion in funding from Strategic Sports Group (SSG) — a consortium of high-profile American sports owners and investors. A for-profit branch, PGA Tour Enterprises, was created to grow the game. Tiger Woods is vice-president.
“If you had told me a year ago I’d be sitting here talking to all of you and we’d have a partner in SSG with the amount of experience they have in the sports and business world with capital behind them and now innovating into our business … to having that level of alignment with our players…it’s really inspiring,’’ Monahan said at TPC Southwind.
LIV Golf players are still banned from having PGA Tour cards, and their results are not recognized by the Official World Golf Ranking. This week in West Virginia, the disruptive league will host the 12th event of its third full campaign. The season will culminate in Chicago (Sep. 13-15) and with the Team Championship Dallas (Sep. 20-22).
Earlier in the summer, McIlroy, who virtually attended a “big boy” meeting with PIF, signaled the sides were meeting on a weekly basis. On Wednesday, Patrick Cantlay, a player director who isn't considered pro-merger, seemed borderline-pleased with the slow down in dialogue.
“Well, it's definitely quieted down, there hasn't been as much chatter the last few months, which has been nice,” Cantlay said. “I think that's just kind of the nature of it. There's going to be ebbs and flows, depending on what kind of information comes out or what announcements.
“When you say ‘end in sight,' it's always evolving. The PGA Tour has always been changing and trying to evolve and get better. Depends what you mean by—what you define as the finish line. But I know all of us are working incredibly hard all the time to get the best outcome.”
The PGA Tour's three-week postseason — which Scottie Scheffler dismissed as ‘silly — get underway Thursday.
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