The end of the year might seem to be a long way off, especially for those of us who procrastinate shopping for Hanukkah or Christmas. For the PGA Tour, though, December 31 looms larger than ever based on recent events.
The tour is operating on a self-imposed New Year’s Eve deadline to codify a proposed “framework agreement” with the DP World Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund to create a for-profit company, to be known as PGA Tour Enterprises, that would operate outside of the not-for-profit PGA Tour. The PIF has served as the money behind rival LIV Golf.
Meanwhile, a growing number of unsolicited American investors have shown interest in acquiring a piece of the action, which could give the tour a convenient excuse to dump the Saudis and their human-rights baggage. Or, one or more of those would-be investors could join the oil-rich PIF in teaming with the tour. It’s a good option for the tour, though sorting it all out could complicate the end-of-year timeline.
However, other problems have emerged that could stop the tour in its negotiating tracks: the Justice Department’s antitrust concerns, U.S. legislators’ skepticism about a proposed alliance with the Saudis, and the tour players’ insistence that they get a piece of the pie, Bloomberg reported Friday.
A fourth U.S.-based investor has shown interest in the tour’s proposed business venture. Arctos Sports Partners, a private-equity firm with ownership stakes in 20-plus teams spanning professional baseball, football, hockey and soccer, wants a piece of pro golf’s top circuit, Forbes reported recently. The news follows recent reports that Endeavor Group, Fenway Sports Group and billionaire Henry Kravis are exploring ways to buy into the PGA Tour.
None of those distractions seems to have given the Saudis pause, though. Yasir Al-Rumayyan, who oversees the PIF, played with R&A CEO Martin Slumbers and rubbed shoulders with golf’s glitterati in the DP World Tour’s Dunhill Links Championship, a rain-shortened event that is scheduled to conclude today in St. Andrews, Scotland. The Saudis remain interested in the R&A and its Open Championship as a potential investment. That alliance could give the Saudis, who already are heavily invested in the women’s game via the Ladies European Tour, another access road into golf’s top tier. READ MORE
A federal judge ordered that most of the documents filed in the antitrust lawsuit and counterclaims between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and its LIV Golf affiliate remain sealed. The legal skirmish ended when the PGA Tour and the PIF entered into a “framework agreement” June 6 as they negotiate a proposed for-profit venture that would operate separately from the tax-exempt tour. The New York Times had sought to unseal documents produced during the discovery process. READ MORE
Mike Ehrmann, PGA of America via Getty Images
Viewership of Europe’s recent Ryder Cup victory against the United States in Rome, Italy, surged in the United Kingdom compared with the previous edition of the biennial match as Americans largely tuned out.
Sky Sports’ coverage in the U.K. averaged a record 785,000 weekend viewers, a 38-percent bump from 2021, when the Europeans lost to the Americans at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin. Conversely, NBC’s coverage attracted about 1.4 million viewers on Saturday and about 1.3 million viewers on Sunday, down sharply from the 2.12 million and 2.47 million, respectively, when the Ryder Cup last visited Europe, in 2018 near Paris. READ MORE
Patrick Cantlay made a “wildly inaccurate and unfair claim” about potential compensation for Ryder Cup players, which was manifested by the American’s refusal to wear a team hat in the recent match, according to a report by Michael Bamberger on FirePitCollective.com. The report rebuts Cantlay’s “absolute lies” denial after Sky Sports’ Jamie Weir disclosed a “fractured” American team room ahead of a 16½-11½ loss to Europe at Marco Simone Golf Club in Rome, Italy. READ MORE
ESPN has acquired the U.S. media rights to TGL, the tech-infused startup league founded by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy that is scheduled to debut in January in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
Also, Tommy Fleetwood, Tyrrell Hatton and Shane Lowry, members of Europe’s victorious Ryder Cup team, will join South Korea’s Tom Kim as TGL’s latest commitments. READ MORE and MORE
TAP-INS
An excerpt from the upcoming book “LIV and Let Die: The inside story of the war between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf” by author Alan Shipnuck details the behind-the-scenes fight for the Saudi-funded rival tour to break into professional golf was released last week on FirePitCollective.com. The book, which is available for presale on Amazon.com, is scheduled to be released October 17. READ MORE
The PGA Tour isn’t the only major professional golf tour attracting outside investment. The LPGA Tour is close to disclosing a strategic planning partner that could help the women’s circuit attract outside investment, commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan told the Financial Times of London. READ MORE
England’s Danny Willett, an eight-time winner on the DP World Tour and the 2016 Masters champion, is recovering from surgery on his left shoulder, he announced. READ MORE
With golf booming in southeast Florida, Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross is partnering with North Palm Beach resident Michael Pascucci to build Apogee, a high-end development featuring three golf courses in Hobe Sound, according to a report by Craig Dolch in The Palm Beach Post. The three courses, all of which are expected to be open by 2025, will be designed by the teams of Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner; Tommy Fazio and Mike Davis; and Kyle Phillips. READ MORE
The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts, will host four USGA events in the coming decades: 2030 U.S. Girls’ Junior, 2034 U.S. Amateur, 2038 U.S. Open and 2045 U.S. Women’s Open. In the Boston-area course’s 17th USGA championship, Matt Fitzpatrick won the 2022 U.S. Open at the same site where he also won the 2013 U.S. Amateur. READ MORE
The 80 finalists have been named for the 10th annual Drive, Chip and Putt National Finals, to be played Sunday, April 7, at Augusta National Golf Club before the 2024 Masters Tournament. READ MORE
Compiled by Steve Harmon