Amid a flurry of activity in his new administration, President Donald Trump got involved in golf last week, meeting with PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and player director Adam Scott at the tour’s request to discuss brokering a deal between the tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund that would help reunify the men’s professional game.
Monahan, Scott and player director Tiger Woods issued a statement acknowledging the Feb. 4 White House meeting and its purpose.
“We know golf fans are eagerly anticipating a resolution to negotiations with the Public Investment Fund and want to thank President Trump for his interest and long-time support of the game of golf,” the statement said. “We asked the president to get involved for the good of the game, the good of the country, and for all the countries involved. We are grateful that his leadership has brought us closer to a final deal, paving the way for reunification of men’s professional golf.”
The PGA Tour announced a framework agreement in June 2023 under which the PIF, which bankrolls LIV Golf, would make a capital investment in PGA Tour Enterprises, the tour’s for-profit arm, paving the way for merged interests between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and LIV Golf. The reported $1.5 billion PIF investment has drawn the attention of federal regulators, and the framework agreement expired on Dec. 31, 2023.
As last week’s meeting with President Trump indicates, the parties are still working on a deal that would solve the schism between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf. Trump has previously boasted that “it would take me the better part of 15 minutes to get that deal done.” Stay tuned. READ MORE
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The LPGA Tour will adopt a revised pace-of-play policy next month. The tour informed players of impending changes to the policy at a meeting last Tuesday in advance of the Founders Cup tournament in Bradenton, Florida, and outlined the changes in a subsequent memo to players obtained by multiple media outlets. The LPGA confirmed to Global Golf Post the accuracy of the policy changes outlined in the memo.
“The reality is that our previous policy was not as effective as it needed to be in ensuring a consistent and timely pace of play,” the memo said. “Based on feedback from players, stakeholders, and partners, it became evident that meaningful changes were necessary.”
The revised policy will introduce stricter time requirements for players to remain in compliance and a new penalty system. Players who take one to five seconds over the allotted time on a stroke or a hole will be subject to a fine; six to 15 seconds over time will be subject to a one-stroke penalty; and 16 seconds or more will be subject to a two-stroke penalty. The revised policy will go into effect on March 27 at the Ford Championship in Arizona. READ MORE
Tiger Woods has committed to play this week in the PGA Tour’s Genesis Invitational, the tournament he hosts and that benefits his TGR Foundation, it was announced on social media Friday. The tournament was moved to Torrey Pines Golf Course in La Jolla, California, from its usual site, Riviera Country Club, in the wake of the devastating Los Angeles-area wildfires.
Woods, who underwent lower-back surgery in September, competed most recently in the PNC Championship parent-child tournament in December with his son, Charlie. While he has never won the Genesis Invitational, Woods has won eight times at Torrey Pines, including the 2008 U.S. Open. READ MORE
PGA Tour veteran Charley Hoffman added his voice to the recent hue and cry over pace of play and touched on other issues of concern in a letter e-mailed to his fellow tour members early last week. In the letter, which Golf Magazine shared on social media, Hoffman urged players to “make a concerted effort to speed up” and chided some members for choosing to play fewer tournaments while finding time for “TGL, Race to Dubai and other non-PGA Tour events.”
Following his TGL match last Tuesday night, Rory McIlroy reacted to the latter point in Hoffman’s letter, saying “it seemed like it was pointed at me.” READ MORE
FS1 will be the dominant channel in LIV Golf’s U.S. media-rights deal with Fox Sports. The cable channel will air nearly twice as many tournament hours as Fox’s main broadcast network.
In total, Fox Sports will air nearly 210 hours of LIV action this season. LIV Golf also agreed to a deal with ITV to show live coverage of the 2025 season in the United Kingdom. READ MORE
Tap-Ins
Daniil Sokolov, a 13-year-old Russian representing Qatar, accorded himself well in the DP World Tour’s Commercial Bank Qatar Masters. Playing on a sponsor invitation, Sokolov missed the cut with rounds of 75-76 but improved upon the scores of 78-82 he shot as a 12-year-old in last year’s tournament. READ MORE
Danny List, a native of Ghana who won the 2024 California State Open and earned a DP World Tour card for 2025, has received the Charlie Sifford Memorial Exemption into the PGA Tour’s Genesis Invitational this week, tournament host Tiger Woods announced. READ MORE
The DP World Tour has partnered with C15 Studio to launch the DP World Tour channel, a 24/7 free ad-supported streaming TV channel delivering tour coverage on leading streaming services to fans across the U.S., Canada, and U.K. READ MORE
Golf Australia has decided to separate the men’s and women’s Australian Opens, which have been played concurrently on the same host courses since 2022, the organization’s chief executive confirmed in a statement to Australian Golf Digest. READ MORE
Compiled by Mike Cullity