PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan set to meet PIF Governor in Saudi Arabia amid tensions with LIV Golf
PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan is in Riyadh on Thursday (Oct. 31), to meet with the governor of the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), Yasir Al-Rumayyan.
The news was published by Bunkered, citing a "well-placed source" whose identity was not disclosed. According to the report, Monahan and Rumayyan will play together in a pro-am event this Thursday. LIV Golf CEO and Commissioner Greg Norman will also be in attendance.
The meeting will take place on the sidelines of the Ladies European Tour's Aramco Team Series event at Riyadh Golf Club. The series is sponsored by the PIF and consists of five events through the 2024 season.
It would be the second public meeting between Jay Monahan and Yasir Al-Rumayyan in less than a month. The two played together at the DP World Tour's Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in early October.
PIF is the main financial backer of LIV Golf, a league founded in 2022 that recruited some of the PGA Tour's top stars. The American-based circuit banned players who went to the rival circuit. The result is that currently the best players in the world on each side only play each other in the Major championships (four per season).
Since then, the PGA Tour and the PIF have been negotiating an agreement to resolve the current crisis in men's professional golf. In June 2023, both parties announced that they had signed a framework agreement to negotiate a definitive one. It was the first time Jay Monahan and Yasir Al-Rumayyan had appeared together in public.
The framework agreement set the end of 2023 as the deadline for a definitive one. However, this date has been extended indefinitely as no such agreement has been reached. It is not yet known when the final agreement will be ready.
PIF continues support for LIV Golf amid negotiations with PGA Tour
PIF has maintained its support of LIV Golf for three seasons and plans to continue for at least one more. In fact, the Saudi fund will maintain its investment in the Greg Norman-led league despite restructuring its investment projects.
Yasir Al Rumayyan himself recently stated that the PIF will reduce its foreign investments by up to 12% in order to promote more projects within Saudi Arabia. The Times' Tom Kershaw reported that the cut will not affect LIV Golf.
In the meantime, the league is preparing for the 2025 season as normal. The first four tournaments on the schedule are already set and ticket sales have begun. The Promotions Event to be held in Riyadh next December has also been confirmed.
The Saudi fund's investment in LIV Golf included $400 million in prize money for each of the 2023 and 2024 seasons. It has also included the resources to sign top stars such as Brooks Koepka, Phil Mickelson and Jon Rahm, whose bonuses are reportedly in nine figures.