Jordan Spieth “I think things are, unfortunately, put in a really bad light right now”
ow are things going in the PGA Tour’s negotiations with the Saudi Public Investment Fund?
That depends who you ask.
Rory McIlroy hasn’t been particularly impressed; he recently attempted to rejoin the Tour’s Policy Board because he was frustrated with the lack of momentum.
“I think I can be helpful. I don’t think there’s been much progress made in the last eight months, and I was hopeful that there would be,” he said several weeks ago.
And when Jimmy Dunne — the architect of the original PIF-PGA Tour-DP World Tour framework agreement — stepped down from the board on Monday, he made his frustrations clear, too.
“Since the players now outnumber the Independent Directors on the Board, and no meaningful progress has been made towards a transaction with the PIF, I feel like my vote and my role is utterly superfluous,” Dunne wrote in his resignation letter.
But PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan pushed directly back against that “no meaningful progress” narrative in a late-night text sent to players on Monday, insisting that “we continue to make meaningful progress behind the scenes in our negotiations toward a potential agreement with the PIF.”
The goal of negotiations, Monahan added, remains simple: “To deliver the best possible outcome for the PGA Tour, our players, partners, tournaments and fans.”
Introducing GOLF Originals with Michael Bamberger, a new series in which we’ll strive to show the inner lining of wonderful and interesting people in the game, some famous, some obscure, some in between. First up: David Feherty.
By this point many fans have wearied of the nuts and bolts of subcommittees and board appointments and equity payment structures. You may be yawning just a few paragraphs into this article. I get it. It’s been nearly a year since the framework agreement, after all, and nearly two years since the beginning of pro golf’s divide. Is something happening or is it not? There’s still no clear answer. But there is a clear gap in perception. Dunne says no meaningful progress has been made. Monahan says meaningful progress is being made. They can’t both be right. So who’s telling the truth?
Tiger Woods addressed the discussions on Tuesday morning. Sort of.
“It’s ongoing; it’s fluid; it changes day-to-day,” he said. “Has there been progress? Yes. But it’s an ongoing negotiation, so a lot of work ahead for all of us with this process, and so we’re making steps and it may not be giant steps, but we’re making steps.”
Woods referenced the PGA Tour as “for the players and by the players.” He said there’s a place for the player directors and for the independent directors, too. He said he couldn’t get into too much detail on the state of negotiations. But he acknowledged general fatigue on the subject.
“I think the fans are probably as tired as we are of the talk not being about the game of golf and about not being about the players,” he said. “It’s about what LIV is doing, what we’re doing, players coming back, players leaving; the fans just want to see us play together. How do we get there is to be determined.”
