There is No End in Sight to PGA Tour And LIV Golf Divide

When Jay Monahan sat in front of the world’s media ahead of the Players Championship there was one topic he absolutely knew he was going to be grilled on - unification. Or lack of it.

And sure enough golf’s best broadcast and print journalists did not disappoint. Like the rest of us, they are sick to the back teeth of hearing about a potential peace deal between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf. And like the rest of us, they were none the wiser after Monahan spent the thick end of an hour in the hot seat.

When Monahan first stunned us all by performing a dramatic U-turn and announcing hopes of a peace deal it was in June 2023. He said at the time that he expected to have something in place by December of that year. That came and went.

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There have been plenty of talks between the PGA Tour and Yasir Al Rumayyan, who holds the purse strings for the Saudi Public Investment Fund that controls LIV Golf. There were hopes that when Greg Norman was replaced in January by American sports executive Scott O’Neil as CEO that things might start to accelerate. 

Monahan and Al Rumayyan even played together at last year’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

And then there was the news from the White House that Donald Trump had taken it upon himself to sort things out. The President claimed he could resolve the differences in about 15 minutes and 'make golf great again’!

The fact that is has been easier for him to bring Ukraine and Russia to the table in a bid to end the conflict that has cost tens of thousands of lives tells you everything you need to know about the huge differences that continue to fester in the world of professional golf.

It does not help that Al Rumayyan keeps a low public profile. You can criticise Monahan for failing to provide clear answers but at least he faces the media. Al Rumayyan does not.

It was sad to see the Players Championship taking place without the likes of US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm, Brooks Koepka and Cameron Smith - all major winners. The Players is the PGA Tour’s flagship event, supposedly boasting the strongest field in golf outside of the majors. Instead, they were preparing for another meaningless LIV tournament on the other side of the world.

Surely we need to find a way to end this impasse? 

It is abundantly clear that no agreement is in sight. In fact, Monahan confirmed that no more meetings are in the diary after the White House summit with Al Rumayyan.

"We appreciate Yasir's innovative vision," Monahan said. "And we can see a future where we welcome him on to our board and work together to move the global game forward. As part of our negotiations, 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."

Monahan added that while his organisation has "removed some hurdles, others remain".

As hard as the media tried, Monahan would not be drawn on the sticking points that still remain. He is a man who generally likes to keep his cards close to his chest but surely this is an issue that needs to be aired in public? 

I don’t like LIV Golf and I hate the rift it has caused but something needs to be sorted out - and soon.

It is likely that DeChambeau will be a member of the US Ryder Cup team, and could well be joined by Koepka. 

Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton look like shoo-ins for the European side. And Sergio Garcia is also agitating for a place in the team. 

I would remind you that Rahm and Hatton are able to play on the DP World Tour only because they have appealed against the fines and suspensions imposed when they joined LIV. The smart money is on that appeal being delayed until after the Ryder Cup. 

I would further remind you that Laurie Canter has paid his fines in full after rejoining his home tour. He has won twice in less than 12 months and is now a genuine contender to make the European team. 

How on earth can it possibly be right that Canter, Rahm and Hatton could possibly be teammates without Canter harbouring a huge amount of resentment towards the LIV pair?