Just one day after the one-year anniversary of the “framework agreement” announcement between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, representatives of the two sides held a lengthy meeting in New York City on Friday evening that concluded with public suggestions that significant progress is being made.
“Very productive, very constructive, very collaborative. I think those are probably three words I would use to describe it,” said Rory McIlroy, who participated in the meeting remotely from the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio.
“It was really good. Definitely things are heading in the right direction. A lot of progress was made. I can't really say much more than that, but it was really positive.”
Exactly what the progress means – also referenced by the PGA Tour in a statement released Saturday morning – remains unclear, but it may be the strongest indication yet that the two sides are working together toward a potential resolution to the disruption that has shaken professional golf in the past two years.
“On Friday evening, an in-person session in New York City included the entire Transaction Subcommittee and PIF Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan and his team, where more progress was made,” the PGA Tour said in a statement. “We remain committed to these negotiations, which require working through complex considerations to best position golf for global growth. We want to get this right, and we are approaching discussions with careful consideration for our players, our fans, our partners and the game’s future.”
“Looking a few years down the line, LIV is going to continue to sort of keep going down its path. But hopefully with maybe more of a collaboration or an understanding between the tours.”
RORY McILROY
McIlroy said he participated in the Friday meeting along with fellow players Adam Scott and Tiger Woods as members of the transaction subcommittee, which also includes PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan; Joe Gorder, the chairman of PGA Tour Enterprises; John Henry of Fenway Sports Group and the manager of private-equity investor Strategic Sports Group; and Joe Ogilvie, liaison director of the PGA Tour Enterprises board.
The two sides have been meeting multiple times weekly, according to the tour statement and McIlroy, with Friday’s meeting bringing the principals together.
McIlroy said there was a 90-minute prep call in advance of the main call, which lasted approximately three hours. The main call focused on the future of the game and how it might look, McIlroy said.
Having created the for-profit PGA Tour Enterprises with a significant investment from SSG, the discussions – which McIlroy said were led by the tour’s business leaders rather than player representatives – are largely about how the PIF might have a similar role with the tour in the future.
“They’re a sovereign wealth fund,” McIlroy said of PIF. “They invest in companies and in different things, and they want a return on their investment. That's what they want. It doesn't seem like they're getting that at the minute within golf. Hopefully if things progress and we get to a certain point, then hopefully they see a future where that can happen; they can start to get some returns on their money.”
Earlier in the week at the Memorial, McIlroy reiterated his thinking that LIV Golf will continue to exist even if an agreement between the tour and the PIF were to be reached.
“Looking a few years down the line, LIV is going to continue to sort of keep going down its path,” McIlroy told reporters. “But hopefully with maybe more of a collaboration or an understanding between the tours. Maybe there is some cross-pollination there where players can start to play on both. I guess that will all be talked about in the coming weeks.”
Ron Green Jr.