PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — A meeting between the player directors of the PGA Tour Policy Board and Yasir Al-Rumayyan, governor of the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, is planned for next week in Ponte Vedra Beach according to a Golfweek report.
Those planning to participate in the meet and greet are unknown, but according to the report the board members are being "strongly encouraged" to attend a Monday meeting at a private residence.
The PGA Tour declined to comment on the report.
Adam Scott, one of the six player board members, was unwilling to confirm a meeting but said he's keen to eventually meet.
“If the PIF thinks it's beneficial, we meet and I think it's a good thing to do,” the Australian said after his Friday afternoon round at the Players Championship. “I mean, as far as getting on with business, let's get on with business.”
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Monahan has meet with Al-Rumayyan numerous times, starting in Venice and then other places around the world including Saudi Arabia in January.
At the first meeting between the two, a comfort level was established that ultimately produced the June 6 “framework agreement,” a precursor to a definitive agreement which both sides had committed to have negotiated by the end of 2023.
That agreement was not completed, instead the PGA Tour received a $3 billion investment from the Strategic Sports Group and the PIF continues to run LIV Golf. Monahan said Tuesday in a press conference that negotiations with the PIF were “accelerating” though he was short on specifics.
Scott said he is looking forward to a potential meeting just as he and the other board members did with the SSG investors.
“In my position, I'm not negotiating and thank God for everyone that I'm not,” Scott joked. “I'm curious to see how that all pans out, just like everyone in the game is. But really, I'm as curious as I was to meet any of the investor groups last year, was what I would say, just to put a face to a name. And, hopefully, everyone is going into this with the right intent, that's a judgment of mine is when the time comes.”
Scott indicated that a meeting with Al-Rumayyan would be a logical first step and could follow the process that was used in the Tour identifying SSG as its investor. In this case, it's the process of accepting the PIF as a partner or deciding to reject the financial support of the largest sovereign wealth fund in the world.
“Ultimately, the players (will) vote going into whether a deal will happen or not, just like it was with SSG last year. And with the seriousness of what we're voting on, I think it is important that we've all met and no matter what anyone's feelings are, I think when you're voting on these things, you can't be completely blind and need to have all the knowledge and input possible to make the best decisions,” Scott said.
Jordan Spieth, another board member, missed the cut at TPC Sawgrass and plans to leave Ponte Vedra Beach on Sunday for Tampa and next week’s Valspar Championship.
Webb Simpson, another board member, missed the cut as well and plans on returning home to North Carolina, but confirmed that if a meeting took place on Monday he would be there.
Tiger Woods is the only board member that did not compete in this year’s Players Championship and it’s unclear if he would attend a meeting.
