Monahan says PGA Tour won’t compromise essence of its sport just to get a deal done with Saudis

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (AP) - PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan wants to get a deal done with the Saudi backers of LIV Golf provided it doesn’t compromise what he considers the essence of the tour.

Monahan said Tuesday that President Donald Trump’s involvement makes the prospect of reunification "very real." Missing were details on how to get there, only a suggestion that the PGA Tour and the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia were at a standstill.

"We’re doing everything that we can to bring the two sides together," Monahan said ahead of The Players Championship. “That said, we will not do so in a way that diminishes the strength of our platform or the very real momentum we have with our fans and our partners. So while we've removed some hurdles, others remain.

"But like our fans, we still share the same sense of urgency to get to a resolution."

Monahan and Adam Scott met with Trump at the White House on Feb. 4. The next meeting included Tiger Woods and Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the PIF governor behind LIV and its concept of team golf. It was the second meeting where progress slowed.

Monahan said no other meetings currently are scheduled.

"President Trump is a lifelong golf fan. He believes strongly in the game's power and potential, and he has been exceedingly generous with his time and influence to help bring a deal together," Monahan said. “He wants to see the game reunified. We want to see the game reunified. His involvement has made the prospect of reunification very real.

"When you're in the midst of complex negotiations, particularly when you may be near a breakthrough, there are ebbs and flows in the discussion."

That began a year ago when several players accompanied Monahan to the Bahamas to start the conversation with PIF. The PGA Tour last year brought on the private equity Strategic Sports Group and its $1.5 billion investment in a commercial venture. That raised questions whether the tour even needed a deal with the Saudis.

Driving the current discussion is how to repair the divide in golf, with players like Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka part of LIV Golf and banned from playing on the PGA Tour. The best players are together only four times a year at the majors.

Monahan invited more questions without providing answers when he said: "We believe there's room to integrate important aspects of LIV Golf into the PGA Tour platform. We're doing everything that we can to bring the two sides together."

That would not appear likely for the rest of the year. LIV Golf, which began in 2022 with a schedule that avoided some of the biggest events in golf, is playing this week in Singapore opposite The Players Championship, the tour’s premier event with a $25 million purse.

Monahan has said over the past month that the priority of the meetings with PIF was about reuniting all the best players more often. He declined to say what "more often" meant or even if that required a financial investment from the PIF.

"Our team is fully committed to reunification," Monahan said. "The only deal that we would regret is one that compromises the essence of what makes the game of golf and the PGA Tour so exceptional."

Monahan also said the tour was working on improving speed of play and would be publishing statistics later this season. Collin Morikawa and Justin Thomas were among those who would like to see such statistics published.

The tour starting next month will be testing a new policy on the developmental Korn Ferry Tour and PGA Tour Americas, which would include assessing penalty strokes for slow play.

He also said players would be able to use distance-measuring devices during a pilot project at six PGA Tour stops after the Masters and before the PGA Championship in May. The PGA Championship currently is the only major allowing such devices.