ATLANTA – During a press conference that meandered for nearly an hour on Wednesday at the Tour Championship, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan deflected every question about the ongoing negotiations with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and attempts to reunite the professional game.
“I’m not going to negotiate details in public or disclose details or specifics,” Monahan repeated. “All I can say is that conversations continue, and they’re productive.”
The public lack of progress in the negotiations to bring the game’s best players, from both LIV Golf and the Tour, back together and end a bitter turf war has added to the frustration felt by many, including one of the Tour’s most high-profile and outspoken advocates.
“I think anyone that cares about golf, I think has to be frustrated. I think anyone that cares about the PGA Tour has to be frustrated because we we’re not putting forward the absolute best product that we can,” Rory McIlroy said following the first round at the Tour Championship. “I just think that it’s gone on long enough. I think everyone is trying to find a solution. It’s just a solution is hard to get to.”
McIlroy continued: “I go back to, even though I was on the wrong side of things, like the U.S. Open with Bryson [DeChambeau], and you’re only really going to get that four times a year at most. I think the game of golf deserves having those sort of things happen more than just four times a year.”
McIlroy’s candid assessment of the ongoing talks, which began last June when the Tour and PIF announced a framework agreement that ended costly litigation and brought both sides to the negotiating table, is noteworthy since the Northern Irishman is a member of the transaction subcommittee, which is tasked with negotiating a deal.
“I think if it doesn’t happen soon, then honestly, I think PIF and the Saudis are going to have to look at alternative options, right?” McIlroy said. “I’d say that’s the next step in all this if something doesn’t get done.”
Asked to expound, McIlroy added, “There are other tours in which they could invest ... but then it keeps the game divided.”