PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA | The next critical step in negotiations between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is likely to happen today with a meeting at an undisclosed location between PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan and player directors of the PGA Tour Policy Board.
It would be the first face-to-face meeting between the two sides, coming just days after commissioner Jay Monahan said the tour’s negotiations with the PIF are “accelerating.”
The player directors – Tiger Woods, Patrick Cantlay, Webb Simpson, Jordan Spieth, Adam Scott and Peter Malnati – reportedly have been encouraged to attend the meeting.
On Sunday here at TPC Sawgrass' Stadium Course, site of the Players Championship, Cantlay confirmed the meeting but did not offer any details. He also downplayed the likelihood of significant decisions being made at the meeting.
"I doubt we will get into anything substantive in the first meeting," Cantlay said. "It's more of a meet-and-greet."
Recently, Simpson said the Policy Board did not know specifically what the PIF wanted out of negotiations that could lead to an agreement ending the battle between the tour and LIV Golf, which the Saudis fund, because there had been no direct contact with Al-Rumayyan or his representatives.
That appears to be on the verge of changing.
“I’m not sure that I can say much more other than we’re being encouraged to potentially meet with them," Spieth told reporters Friday. “But at the same time, we probably feel like our membership should know timing and what could happen. ... We are being encouraged, obviously, which I think is probably a good thing that the entire board should if there's going to be any potential for a negotiation."
Scott sounded open to meeting with Al-Rumayyan if “only to put a face to a name,” he said.
It can be similar, Scott said, to meetings the Policy Board had late last year as it was finalizing a deal with Strategic Sports Group, a consortium of professional sports owners that has committed up to $3 billion in the new for-profit PGA Tour Enterprises.
“If the PIF think it’s beneficial that we meet, then I think it’s a good thing to do,” Scott said. “As far as getting on with business, let’s get on with business. With the seriousness of what we’re voting in, it is important that we’ve met no matter what anyone’s feelings are.
“When you’re voting on these things, you can’t be completely blind. You need to have all the knowledge and input possible to make the best decision. I think we’re going to follow a similar process, hopefully, to how it went with SSG.”
Malnati, who indicated Saturday that he had not been alerted to the details of the expected meeting, added his voice to those endorsing a conversation to see where both sides stand.
“I think something needs to happen for our sport,” Malnati said. “I would love to see a unified game where we can… I want there to be different tours where guys can play – I want that – but I want to see a unified game where, when we have events like the Players Championship, that we have all the best players in the world and we're proud to call them PGA Tour members.
“That's what I want. I don't know how we get there, but that's what I want.”
Ron Green Jr.