The PGA Tour and LIV Golf divide has plagued the sport for almost three years.
Yet, on Jun. 6, 2023, the PGA Tour announced a ‘framework agreement’ with the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), LIV’s beneficiary, that dropped all lawsuits between the two sides and laid the groundwork to strike a concrete, nuanced deal. Many believed that the PGA Tour and LIV Golf would merge soon thereafter, ending golf’s greatest schism, but that has not come to fruition. Men’s professional golf remains divided at the top.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump believes he can change that.
While appearing on the “Let’s Go” Podcast with Jim Gray and Bill Belichick, Trump confidently boasted that he could get a deal done quickly after a long impasse.
“I do think [the deal] will come together,” Trump said to Gray and Belichick.
“I could certainly help it. I would say it would take me the better part of 15 minutes to get that deal done.”
Trump, an avid player himself, is no stranger to LIV Golf. His organization has benefitted heavily from the startup league.
Since the Saudi-backed circuit’s launch in June 2022, Trump has hosted a LIV event at one of his properties on six occasions. Trump National Doral in Miami—its renowned Blue Monster Course used to host a PGA Tour event annually from 1962 to 2016—has welcomed LIV on three occasions. Trump National Golf Club Bedminster in New Jersey hosted two LIV events in 2022 and 2023. Another Trump-owned course in Virginia held the seventh tournament of the 2023 LIV Golf season, which Harold Varner III won.
Of course, in July 2022, just weeks after LIV Golf held its first event in the United Kingdom, Trump famously urged players to “take the money” and join LIV. He also predicted a merger would come at some point.
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“All of those golfers that remain ‘Loyal’ to the very disloyal PGA, in all of its different forms, will pay a big price when the inevitable MERGER with LIV comes, and you get nothing but a big ‘Thank You’ from PGA officials who are making millions of dollars a year,” Trump wrote on Truth Social in July 2022.
“If you don’t take the money now, you will get nothing after the merger takes place and only say how smart the original signees were.”
Trump’s proclamation came about 18 months after the PGA of America moved the 2022 PGA Championship from Trump National Golf Club Bedminster to Southern Hills in Oklahoma. PGA officials decided to award its prized possession to the Tulsa-area club after the January 6th U.S. Capitol attack, leaving Trump furious.
Perhaps that explains why he has hosted many LIV events, hanging out with CEO Greg Norman and PIF Governor Yasir al-Rumayyan. He has played in LIV Pro-Ams, too.
Trump has also appeared on Bryson DeChambeau’s YouTube Channel, as DeChambeau has become LIV’s biggest attraction in recent years.
Nevertheless, as the 2024 Election Cycle comes to a close, Trump emphasized on the “Let’s Go” podcast that the country faces more significant issues than golf’s current split.
“Well, I am going to work on other things, to be honest with you. We have much bigger problems than that,” Trump added.
“But we should have one tour, and they should have the best players on that tour.”
How that unified tour looks remains to be seen.
Rory McIlroy has called for a global, unified tour featuring the best players in events held all over the world. Other prominent players have longed for something different.
Regardless, PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan, al-Rumayyan, and members of the Policy Board, including Tiger Woods and Adam Scott, have met in recent months to advance negotiations. However, Monahan has not provided any concrete intel or substantial updates on these discussions throughout this process.
“We have the right people at the table with the right mindset. I see that in all of these conversations, and that’s both sides. That creates optimism about the future and our ability to come together,” Monahan said before The Tour Championship in Atlanta in late August.
“At the same time, these conversations are complex. They’re going to take time. They have taken time, and they will continue to take time.”
Yet, Trump believes he can swoop in and resolve it all rather quickly. However, the Department of Justice (DOJ) is well aware of this deal, as it has concerns over anti-trust violations. The U.S. Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI)—a bi-partisan sub-committee led by Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut—has concerns over the Saudi PIF, sportswashing, and their ambitions of doing business in the United States. The PSI has also expressed agitation for the Saudi government’s role in the 9/11 attacks.
Despite these apprehensions from within the U.S. Government, the 45th President feels sympathetic to LIV players’ cause, as he noted on the “Let’s Go” Podcast:
“There are a lot of great, great players, beyond great, really top-top players on LIV. And it would be nice if they could all play together. And it’s terrible when somebody is shut out of a major. It’s terrible,” Trump said.
“But you know [LIV golfers are] very happy with the Saudis. They’re very happy about it. They really are. It’s amazing. You speak to them, and they are happy with their decisions. They made more money than they probably could have ever made. They got checks for—in some cases—hundreds of millions of dollars.”
And that is just one significant issue within this whole mess. Should any LIV player who accepted millions return their financial incentive? Re-invest it back into the new tour? Or keep it.?
This pending deal is quite messier than what appears on the surface, as it involves dozens of stakeholders, including Congress and the DOJ. But who knows? This dilemma could involve Trump, too, which may be a welcome sight to some and a horror show for others.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
