PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan has refused to be drawn how far along negotiations are with the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) behind LIV Golf.
Ahead of this week’s FedEx St. Jude Championship, to coincide with the release of the 2025 PGA Tour Schedule, Monahan faced the media, where he was asked if the release of the schedule meant “there’s not going to be anything with LIV, at least through next year or ’26 or ’27.” He responded: “I think that’s fair.”
While Monahan wouldn’t elaborate on exactly when, or even if, a deal would happen, he insisted the Tour is in a strong place and that discussions with the PIF, headed by governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan, are ongoing.
He said: “When you think about where we were, engagement amongst our players, our partners, our fans, our investors I think is really, really high and really strong.
“There's tremendous momentum. I think that's reflected in the energy you see coming in the Playoffs, the '25 schedule, and we've seen and continue to see a lot more innovation, and certainly the conversations with the Public Investment Fund and then an important part of the journey that we're on this year and that we'll continue to be on.
"And as I've said before, you've heard some players comment on, we continue to be in regular dialogue. I'm encouraged by that. But I'm really not going to offer more than that and not negotiate in public.”
Monahan then revealed that, despite the complex nature of the talks, he is “hopeful” of a positive outcome. “These are very complicated discussions,” he said. “There are a lot of elements to them. But when you have the level of interaction, when you're continuing to meet, move forward and discuss and innovate, you can't be anything other than hopeful.
“As it relates to times and time frames and where we are, I'd just say that we're in a good place with the conversations. That's the most important thing.”
It is now over 14 months since the shock announcement that the PGA Tour and the PIF were putting their grievances to one side to try to strike a deal that would see them co-exist at the top of the men’s game.
An initial deadline for an agreement came and went with the New Year, although before March’s Players Championship, Monahan declared talks were “accelerating.”
Since then, influential players, including PGA Tour Policy Board Player Director Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, have attended meetings to try and bring a deal closer. However, for the moment, the waiting game goes on.
