In a press release, LIV Golf named Gene Davis and Jon Zinman to lead the new board, citing them as “seasoned experts with proven track records for navigating complex situations and unlocking value for global organisations.” Al-Rumayyan is not named in the release, but multiple outlets have confirmed Al-Rumayyan is out and a source familiar with the matter confirmed the same to Golf Digest.

The release noted that LIV was in the midst of a transition “from a foundational launch phase to a diversified, multi-partner investment model.” It did not specifically mention PIF’s decision to no longer support the golf endeavour that it has financials since the league’s inception.

Al-Rumayyan’s departure closes a nearly five-year run atop a league he originated. LIV Golf was an offshoot of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030—a blueprint to diminish the country’s reliance on oil by diversifying the economy and modernising its public services. Al-Rumayyan, part of crown prince Mohammed bin Salman’s inner circle, wanted to grow golf participation in Saudi Arabia and develop a national team and elite players, along with big-picture items, such as developing courses to aid tourism and hosting professional competitions.

He began hosting the Saudi International on the DP World Tour in 2019, but Golf Saudi’s larger attempts to enter the golf’s ecosystem were rebuffed. The DP World Tour turned down a larger sponsorship proposal, and the PGA Tour refused to listen to various business overtures. After initially providing backing to the proposed Premier Golf League, Golf Saudi spun out its own league, LIV Golf, a breakaway tour built on shotgun starts, team franchises, music on the course and nine-figure signing bonuses.

The first LIV event was held at Centurion Club in England in June 2022. By the end of that summer, the league had signed Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, Sergio García, Phil Mickelson and Cameron Smith. At the opening event, Al-Rumayyan made news when he said he would pay a $54 million bonus to any player who shot a 54 at a LIV event.

Al-Rumayyan’s most consequential move came on June 6, 2023, when PIF, the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour announced a framework agreement to merge under a new commercial entity. Al-Rumayyan was to be installed as chairman of that entity, with PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan as CEO. It later came out, during a congressional hearing in Washington, D.C., that Al-Rumayyan was pushing for a membership at Augusta National as part of the agreement.

However, the deal never closed in the form announced. Negotiations stalled, restarted and were eventually sidelined for good after a White House meeting in the spring of 2025 with Al-Rumayyan, PGA Tour officials and President Donald Trump went sideways. Brian Rolapp, who became PGA Tour CEO last summer, has publicly stated the tour is not pursuing a deal with LIV.

PIF invested more than $5 billion into the LIV property. Prior to LIV’s third season, Al-Rymayyan was able to pry away reigning Masters champ Jon Rahm to give LIV a shot of formidability. However, the on-course product never found a sustained American audience. Television ratings remained low across LIV’s broadcast partnerships, first on the CW and later on Fox Sports. Attendance at domestic events was uneven outside of a handful of stops. The league drew larger crowds in Adelaide and in markets such as South Africa and Mexico City, but failed to convert star power into the cultural foothold in the U.S. that PIF’s spending was designed to purchase. O’Neil has acknowledged that LIV may not reach profitability for another decade.

Al-Rumayyan rarely spoke on the record and almost never held press conferences, becoming a kind of shadow presence in the sport—the man on the other end of every rumored deal, the one whose checkbook everyone was waiting on. The checkbook is now closing. In April, PIF announced a new 2026-2030 strategy that signaled a reevaluation of its priorities, with the fund refocused on domestic efforts while facing mounting commitments to World Expo 2030 and the 2034 FIFA World Cup. LIV Golf was noticeably absent from the PIF’s future endeavors during the announcement.

Al-Rumayyan remains governor of PIF, where he oversees a portfolio worth more than $925 billion, and continues to chair Saudi Aramco, Ma’aden, Newcastle United and Riyadh Air. His position within Saudi Arabia’s economic apparatus is unchanged.

Davis is the head of PIRINATE Consulting Group, a firm specialising in restructuring/governance issues, turn-around management, liquidation and sale management, merger and acquisition consulting, hostile and friendly takeovers, proxy contests and strategic planning advisory services for public and private business entities. Zinman is the founder and managing member of JZ Advisors, an independent strategic advisory firm serving companies across industry and life cycle, typically engaging at a time of transformation with a focus on maximising the company’s go-forward growth potential.

According to LIV’s release, the league’s “conviction in the Team Golf model has never been stronger.” The league from its inception has thought its path to profitability was through the sale of its 13-team franchises and that appears to be a fundamental platform of any new business model moving forward.

LIV Golf Virginia is set for May 7-10 at Trump National in Washington, D.C., followed by stops in South Korea and Spain before the U.S. Open. On Tuesday, however, the league postponed its inaugural New Orleans event, originally scheduled for June 25-28 at Bayou Oaks at City Park, after O’Neil informed Louisiana officials that LIV intended to push the date back amid what the state described as a changing business model.

O’Neil had previously said LIV is fully funded through the current season and has described the 2026 calendar as proceeding “full throttle.” A source told Golf Digest that the league is expected announced new board members on Thursday. On Wednesday, Golf Digest reported that several agents for LIV players have reached out to the tour regarding a return.

Whether the league outlasts that timeline, and whether it does so in any form recognizable to the one Al-Rumayyan built, are now questions for the executives he is leaving behind.

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‘Bombshell’ LIV Golf announcement imminent, report claims

Amid growing speculation that the league may be discontinued at the end of 2026, the Financial Times reported that PIF is weighing the prospect of no longer funding LIV, with an announcement coming as soon as Thursday. Though the sovereign wealth fund’s estimated worth hovers near $940 billion, the Iran War and Middle Eastern conflict has taken a toll on the fund, according to reports. Saudi Arabia was already retreating from promised investments before the war, strained by budget shortfalls and unrealistic designs. The U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran accelerated the reckoning. Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz has cut Saudi oil exports nearly in half. The kingdom has shut down most of its offshore fields and this month halted one of the world’s largest petrochemical plants.

Additionally, on Wednesday, PIF announced its new strategy focusing on domestic programs rather than investing in global entities, as well as tightening its expenditures on projects that have not brought a return. PIF has injected more than $5 billion into LIV Golf since the league launched in fall 2021. However, the league has haemorrhaged billions and failed to gain investors for its teams. LIV CEO Scott O’Neil said earlier this year that it could be another decade before LIV sees profitability.

On Wednesday the The Athletic reported that members of LIV’s leadership team were informed on Masters Sunday that they would soon lose their positions, while the Telegraph reported that LIV executives were brought to New York for an emergency meeting. Sources have told Golf Digest that LIV leadership is looking for alternative funding for the league but so far is coming up empty.

LIV Golf has an event this week in Mexico City. On Tuesday, press conferences were canceled and the media center closed for what was later described as a power outage. On Wednesday, the league held a press conference, where Sergio Garcia said players have not been informed of any developments. For the moment, it appears this week’s event will be played as scheduled.

“Honestly, you know how these rumours are,” Garcia said. “There are always a lot of them. And I can’t tell you anything more than what we already know.”

LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil – Sarah Reed

On Wednesday, LIV CEO Scott O’Neil sent an e-mail to staffers (posted on X by ESPN reporter Jeff Darlington), stating that the league would continue operations for 2026.

“I want to be crystal clear: Our season continues exactly as planned, uninterrupted and at full throttle,” O’Neil wrote. “While the media landscape is often filled with speculation, our reality is defined by the work we do on the grass. We are heading into the heart of our 2026 schedule with the full energy of an organization that is bigger, louder, and more influential than ever before.

“The life of a startup movement is often defined by these moments of pressure. We signed up for this because we believe in disrupting the status quo. We have faced headwinds since the jump, and we’ve answered every time with resilience and grace. Now, we answer by doing what we do best: putting on the most compelling show in sports.”

LIV is coming off a particularly poor showing at the Masters. Tyrrell Hatton parlayed a strong Sunday into a T-3 finish, but Jon Rahm—who entered as one of the tournament favourites—again struggled on the major stage, while LIV marquee attraction Bryson DeChambeau missed the cut. Garcia also created a viral moment for an outburst where he damaged a tee box and broke his driver.

LIV Golf has not responded to a Golf Digest request for comment.

This is a developing story and will continue to be updated.

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Shortly following the surprise proposed deal to end professional golf’s civil war, representatives for the tour and PIF were called before a Senate hearing in July of 2023 and had to provide all records and communications between the two entities. According to Senator Richard Blumenthal, the deal raised “concerns about the Saudi government’s role in influencing this effort and the risks posed by a foreign government entity assuming control over a cherished American institution.” The inquiry into PIF’s golf interest expanded into Saudi Arabia’s increasing commercial investments in the United States. While the PGA Tour sent COO Ron Price and former policy board member Jimmy Dunne to the hearing, PIF declined to participate.

Among the golf items in Friday’s report was the assertion that PIF only began talking with the tour after it became clear it PIF and its officials would have to testify about PIF’s business dealings.

“The Subcommittee’s inquiry revealed that the first significant back and forth about a potential agreement between the PIF and the PGA Tour began with a renewed push from a representative of the PIF to broker a deal on April 14, 2023, and that a key term of the initial Framework Agreement entered into by the PIF and the PGA Tour involved the dismissal, with prejudice, of pending litigation between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour,” the report stated. “On April 7, 2023, a judge in the Northern District of California had ruled in that litigation that the PIF and its Governor, Yasir al-Rumayyan, were subject to discovery and depositions by lawyers for the PGA Tour. This deposition would likely have revealed details of the PIF’s operations and Governor al-Rumayyan’s control over its commercial investments.”

One of the more overlooked aspects of the framework agreement stated that LIV Golf’s antitrust lawsuit against the tour and the tour’s countersuit would be dismissed within 10 days. Just as crucially, the provision stated that neither side could refile such lawsuits in the future.

This claim is part of PSI’s warning that “U.S. defenses are inadequate to protect against increasingly sophisticated foreign influence efforts by Saudi Arabia and other malign actors and exposed loopholes within the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) that allow foreign governments to escape accountability.”

“My PSI investigation is a call to action—supporting strong reforms for disclosure by foreign actors,” said Blumenthal. “Our report reveals how present laws may enable foreign influence without transparency. Very simply, our present defenses do not protect against increasingly sophisticated threats. While the Trump Administration rolls back deterrents against foreign influence and seeks investments from our adversaries, I am calling on Attorney General Pam Bondi to immediately step up enforcement of the Foreign Agents Registration Act and support my Sovereign Wealth Fund Transparency Act.”

The news comes six weeks after President Donald Trump hosted representatives from the PGA Tour—including commissioner PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, Tiger Woods and Adam Scott—along with al-Rumayyan at the White House to discuss potential reunification in professional golf. However, the meeting did not produce a formalised agreement. Earlier this month, PIF, which serves as the financial backer to LIV Golf, maintained its offer to invest in the newly created for-profit PGA Tour Enterprises. However, the proposal came with the provision that LIV Golf, in some capacity, would continue in the future professional golf landscape, and that Al-Rumayyan would be co-chair of PGA Tour Enterprises.

Sources familiar with the matter have told Golf Digest that the tour has asserted it is not interested in a team golf element—a message that was delivered at the White House meeting. When the original framework agreement between the tour and PIF was announced on June 6, 2023, Al-Rumayyan was designated as the chairman of for-profit endeavor (called “NewCo” at the time), although the tour has shifted its position following the $1.5 billion investment from the Strategic Sports Group. Joe Gorder, a former head of Valero Energy, is chairman of the Enterprises board.

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Augusta National Golf Club is a tradition-bound bastion of influence whose members comprise this country’s corporate, political and financial elite, and whose championship, the Masters, stands as American golf’s most prestigious event, wielding an unparalleled gravitational pull over the sport’s trajectory and future. Augusta National is also notoriously furtive about itself and its actions, operating with a level of privacy comparable to the Pentagon. That’s the thing about outlandish theories: They thrive in precisely the kind of environments that Augusta has meticulously cultivated for generations. These shadows exist where transparency ends and human pattern-seeking begins, connecting dots that may or may not exist but collectively form an irresistible narrative that explains the otherwise inexplicable. Did Augusta National orchestrate the deal with the tour and Saudis?—a perfect storm of mystery, power, and plausible deniability that leaves even skeptics wondering what truly happened.

• • •

Like any formidable mystery, there is a trail of tantalising breadcrumbs. In their explosive opening legal salvo against the PGA Tour, Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau and nine other LIV Golf defectors alleged in a meticulously documented antitrust lawsuit that Augusta National and Masters chairman Fred Ridley actively collaborated with the tour to arrange a coordinated campaign designed to dissuade players from joining the Saudi-backed circuit. Filed in August 2022, the plaintiffs wrote:

“Augusta National, the promoter of The Masters, has taken multiple actions to indicate its alignment with the PGA Tour, thus seeding doubt among top professional golfers whether they would be banned from future Masters Tournaments. As an initial matter, the links between the PGA Tour and Augusta National run deep. The actions by Augusta National indicate that the PGA Tour has used these channels to pressure Augusta National to do its bidding. For example, in February 2022, Augusta National representatives threatened to disinvite players from The Masters if they joined LIV Golf.”

The complaint further revealed that the PGA Tour urged Augusta National officials to attend a PGA Tour Advisory Council meeting in May 2022, shortly after the formal launch of the LIV Golf Invitational Series. The suit said officials did attend and “they informed the golfers in attendance that the PGA Tour and Augusta National had agreed to work together to address LIV Golf. As described above, the threat of exclusion from the Masters (and the other Majors) is a powerful weapon in the Tour’s arsenal to deter players from joining LIV Golf.”

The claim goes further with this reference to behind-the-scenes actions from Ridley: “In addition, Augusta National Chairman Fred Ridley personally instructed a number of participants in the 2022 Masters not to play in the LIV Golf Invitational Series. Plainly, these threats to top players served no beneficial purpose, as they would only serve to weaken the field in the Masters.” This allegation suggested not merely institutional alignment but direct personal involvement by Ridley (and who he represented) to strangle the fledgling league in its infancy.

Further cementing the pattern of apparent coordination, the plaintiffs noted that Ridley summarily declined a request from LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman to meet and formally discuss the launch of the series and its business model. Perhaps most tellingly, the lawsuit highlights a suspicious temporal connection: Mickelson’s formal suspension from the PGA Tour came the day immediately following the three-time Masters winner’s name being removed from the tournament’s 2022 field.

Fred Ridley has been chairman of Augusta National since 2017. Andrew Redington

Around the same time as the lawsuits, the club became entangled with the Department of Justice—a dimension that adds potential federal implications. In October 2022, multiple outlets reported that the DOJ’s sweeping antitrust investigation into the PGA Tour (entirely separate from the LIV lawsuit) had expanded to include Augusta National, along with the USGA and the PGA of America. These governing bodies, along with the R&A, serve as administrators for the Official World Golf Ranking—the point system that facilitates entry into major championships that was failing to accredit LIV Golf.

Months later, in January 2023, LIV Golf filed accusations against 10 Augusta National members. Most damning were the assertions that former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, an Augusta National member since 2012, had personally attempted to influence the DOJ’s investigation, and that investment banker Warren Stephens, son of a past chairman of Augusta National, was directly asked by tour employees “to push Sen. Tom Cotton, an Arkansas Republican, to lobby against LIV.”

As a necessary caveat, any party can make virtually any claim in legal filings, and a federal judge ultimately denied LIV Golf’s request to expand discovery into these activities. However, the extraordinary specificity of the allegations—naming particular members and identifying specific political figures—created a cloud of suspicion that couldn’t be entirely dismissed by those familiar with Augusta’s vast network of influence. Augusta National, despite its evolving inner dynamics, remains a club that values its privacy with fervor and abhors its workings becoming public spectacle.

Then there is commerce—the inescapable reality of global financial strings that complicates many aspects of golf’s civil war. Many Augusta National members are executives and board chairs of multinational corporations with extensive and lucrative dealings in Saudi Arabia. As individuals, they might publicly bristle at what LIV and the ongoing schism has done to the sport’s traditions and competitive structure. Conversely, they professionally must answer to their businesses, shareholders and boards—creating a potential conflict between golf loyalties and fiduciary responsibilities. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund may now be under instructions to curtail some of its freelance spending on vanity projects, but its aggressive investing efforts remain in full throttle across global markets; to deliberately antagonise this $700 billion financial juggernaut is to sacrifice access to one of the world’s most significant sources of capital.

Yet, what truly crystallised the belief among insiders that Augusta National was the invisible hand orchestrating a deal was the dealmakers themselves: Jimmy Dunne and Ed Herlihy—both Augusta National members with deep ties to professional golf’s inner sanctum.

Unlike most Augusta National members who guard their affiliation discreetly, Dunne stands as an exception—an outgoing raconteur whose relationships with PGA Tour players have elevated him to celebrity status in golf circles. Beyond the game, Dunne serves as vice chairman and senior managing principal of Piper Sandler, a prominent investment bank and financial services firm specialising in merger advisory. In fall 2022, he joined the PGA Tour as an independent director. Crucially, Dunne’s initial meeting with PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan in spring 2023 laid the groundwork for the framework agreement negotiations.

Though less visible publicly, Herlihy wields comparable influence. Recognised as one of America’s premier acquisition attorneys, he notably orchestrated Bank of America’s $44 billion purchase of Merrill Lynch during the 2008 financial crisis. Like Dunne, Herlihy served on the tour’s policy board as an independent director while simultaneously holding Augusta National membership.

The exclusive invitation into the PIF negotiations to Dunne and Herlihy by PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan—while keeping key tour executives in complete darkness until days before the public announcement—demands scrutiny. When congressional hearings in July 2023 forced Dunne to justify this extraordinary secrecy, he offered only the vague explanation that discussions were “fragile.” Senator Richard Blumenthal pointedly challenged this justification: “Most executives and CEOs are legally and morally obligated to keep boards of directors informed.” More troubling still were Dunne’s post-agreement interviews with the Associated Press, USA Today, Golf Channel and Sports Illustrated that produced glaringly inconsistent accounts of why, precisely, this was all happening.

Dunne’s decision to engage with Saudi PIF is particularly interesting.

So, did Dunne and Herlihy author the PIF deal primarily to shield Augusta National from unwanted publicity and prevent further exposure of its private operations? This theory gained such momentum that, according to two sources with direct knowledge, a prominent player confronted PGA Tour leadership in fall 2023, demanding answers about Dunne and Herlihy’s true motivations.

Yet this illustrates the problem with fringe theories. Despite their seductive simplicity, they collapse under serious examination.

• • •

Jimmy Dunne speaks during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee hearing in July 2023. Bloomberg

Monahan, Dunne and Herlihy orchestrated the June 6, 2023 Saudi Arabia deal because they realised what others had not—the PGA Tour was bleeding out. Golf’s civil war with LIV Golf had become financially unsustainable for several critical reasons:

• The PGA Tour spent more than $150 million on increased purses, expanded bonuses, and legal battles.
• Despite public claims of stability through 2027, Congressional testimony revealed the PGA Tour was “on fire” from LIV’s spending power.
• Legal expenses alone were projected to exceed an additional $50 million in 2023.

Though early legal proceedings favoured the PGA Tour, the tour’s legal team harbored concerns about their own discovery vulnerabilities—recognising that even the most unassailable legal positions can crumble in the unpredictable environment of a full trial.

The deal’s most strategic element was often overlooked: Within just 10 days, all pending litigation would be permanently dismissed, eliminating both discovery risks and mounting legal costs. These explanations, while lacking dramatic intrigue, align in their straightforward plausibility and represent the unvarnished truth. (Although it perhaps raises the question why the tour would engage in an arms race it had no realistic chance of winning in the first place.)

The accusations against Augusta National likewise misread the club’s operational ethos. Augusta National navigates with greater subtlety and strategic sophistication than such an easily traceable intervention would reflect. Look no further than the club’s land acquisition methodology. The precise scope of Augusta’s property holdings and associated financial investments remains deliberately obscured, as the club shields these transactions behind a network of limited-liability companies rather than conducting business under its own name.

The visibility of Dunne and Herlihy’s involvement actually undermines the theory of Augusta National’s orchestration—a contradiction to the club’s established pattern of discreet maneuvering. Furthermore, sources with direct knowledge of the DOJ’s investigation maintain that the inquiry was primarily procedural in nature, despite its public portrayal, and categorically dismissed LIV’s allegations against Rice and Stephens as entirely without merit.

In fact, those familiar with Augusta National’s inner workings assert that Dunne became a scapegoat. The secretive nature of the initial PIF negotiations triggered backlash against him from tour membership. Dunne received no role on the tour’s transaction team handling future PIF discussions, and when the tour created a new player position specifically for Tiger Woods—following a player petition demanding improved governance and transparency after the June 6 announcement—Dunne’s influence within the tour structure diminished substantially.

He also suffered considerable public relations damage due to his current Saudi Arabian business dealings. Augusta National members—many staunch Dunne supporters—contend tour leadership failed to defend him during the player revolt despite Dunne saving the tour. “Jimmy didn’t need that,” laments one industry insider who considers himself Dunne’s friend, referring to Dunne’s deal-broker role. “He went from the most popular guy in golf to being exiled.”

While exiled might seem hyperbolic for someone who maintains memberships at Augusta National, Pine Valley, Seminole and National Golf Links—and who played in this year’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am—Dunne undeniably felt the repercussions. He publicly resigned from the tour Policy Board in 2024, pointedly declaring “my role is utterly superfluous.”

Augusta National’s mere consideration as a potential powerbroker in these events speaks to its formidable reputation, though even this substantially overestimates its actual influence. It is, after all, a club that runs one major tournament.

Ironically, some members contend the schism ultimately benefited the Masters, further elevating its already prestigious position as one of just four events where the entire professional golf world competes on a single stage. Augusta National did, however, play a minor role in the peace negotiations, as revealed in documents released during Congressional hearings. Among PIF’s formal requests was Augusta National membership for Al-Rumayyan himself.

As improbable as this demand appears, it represents the most credible element of the entire tale.

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Tiger Woods said he believes the professional game will “heal very quickly” if and when the PGA Tour can come to an agreement with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund as negotiations between the two entities continue.

Visiting CBS’s 18th-hole tower at Torrey Pines on Sunday during the Genesis Invitational that he hosts, Woods was asked questions by anchor Jim Nantz about a number of topics, including the impact of his late mother, the status of the tour-PIF negotiations and when we might see Woods compete again.

After the Genesis had to be moved away from Riviera Country Club to Torrey Pines South because of the wildfires in Los Angeles, Woods entered the event, only to withdraw last Monday, saying he needed further time to process the death of Kultida Woods. Tiger made his first appearance at Torrey Pines on Sunday, walking around at the driving range to exchange hugs and chat with numerous players.

Tony Finau and Tiger Woods embrace on the Sunday of the Genesis Invitational at Torrey Pines – Michael Owens

Nearly two weeks ago, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and Players Advisory Council chairman Adam Scott went to the White House to meet with President Donald Trump and encourage him to support them in trying to get a deal done with PIF. One of the biggest concerns about securing what’s been called a “reunification” is getting the approval of the U.S. Department of Justice, and Trump has indicated he could be of assistance in that area.

This week at Torrey Pines, Monahan and Scott each portrayed the meeting with Trump as a positive step. Woods said on Sunday he was not part of the meeting because of a previous scheduling commitment but is pleased with what transpired.

“Jay and Adam did great during the meeting. And we have another subsequent meeting coming up,” Woods said. “So I think that things are going to heal quickly. We’re going to get this game going in the right direction. We’ve been heading in the wrong direction for a number of years. The fans want all of us, all the top players playing together. And we’re going to make it happen.”

In the booth, Woods, 49, spoke with admiration for his mother, who was honoured on Sunday with pins worn by the players.

“It’s been a rough process to go through,” Woods said before noting the support he’s received from his fellow players. “The amount of texts and emails and voice messages of support I got, its really meant a lot to me,” he said.

“My mom was my rock,” Woods said. “When my dad worked at McDonnell Douglas at the time, mom would take me to every junior event here in Southern California, whether it was a nine-hole event in Riverside or San Bernardino. She would be out there walking and keeping score on every hole. All those days led to the point where I am.

“Losing her,” he added, “has been very hard.”

Predictably, Woods gave no indication of when he might return to competition. The tour moves on to Mexico next week and then Florida. The next signature event is the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill, March 6-9, followed the next week by the Players Championship.

Woods figured to fly home to Florida on Sunday because he’s set to make his next playing appearance on Monday night in TGL, his simulator league.

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When the tour and PIF announced their surprise framework agreement on June 6, 2023, the original goal was to finish a deal by the end of that year. But the spectre U.S. government antitrust regulations blocking a deal and the defection in December 2023 of Jon Rahm to LIV, which led to hurt feelings on the tour side, caused negotiations to stall and the tour to seek supplemental investment, in the form of a $1.5 billion commitment from the Strategic Sports Group in early 2024.

In turn, PIF officials looked at the tour’s solicitation with other private equity groups as a betrayal of sorts to the June 6 framework agreement and reports emerged that the PIF was also entertaining a potential separate deal with the DP World Tour.

Toward the end of 2024, however, negotiations appeared to resume, with reports that a deal between the PGA Tour and PIF was in place, and that the sides were merely waiting for the Trump administration to take office before finalizing anything; the presumption was that President Trump’s Department of Justice would be more willing to pass a deal.

Shortly after Trump won the 2024 election, he played a round of golf with Monahan in Florida. Helping matters as well is President Trump’s relationship with Saudi Arabia and LIV Golf. Trump has had business ties with the Saudi league since its emergence in 2022, with LIV hosting events at Trump venues in New Jersey, Florida and outside of Washington, D.C.

During the first round of the WM Phoenix Open on Thursday, the tour released a statement signed by Monahan, Scott and Tiger Woods (who did not meet with Trump on Tuesday), implying a deal seemed to on the horizon and acknowledging President Trump is now a part of the discussions.

“We know golf fans are eagerly anticipating a resolution to negotiations with the Public Investment Fund and want to thank President Trump for his interest and long-time support of the game of golf,” the tour said in a statement. “We asked the President to get involved for the good of the game, the good of the country, and for all the countries involved. We are grateful that his leadership has brought us closer to a final deal, paving the way for the reunification of men’s professional golf.”

What is unclear is whether merely the financial part of a deal between the tour and the PIF is imminent or whether specifics on how the tour and LIV Golf, which began its fourth season on Thursday in Saudi Arabia, would operate together inside the for-profit PGA Tour Enterprises. Due to antitrust regulations, it is likely LIV as a league will continue in some capacity should a peace treaty be reached.

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Rory McIlroy shuts down reports of a done deal between LIV and the PGA Tour

Day stayed on the PGA Tour and, two years on, the 36-year-old never really revealed why he didn’t leave. But as he prepares to travel to his homeland for the upcoming Australian PGA, he bluntly delivered the reason.

“I didn’t knock it back,” Day told Code Sports Australia, meaning that he never had the chance to reject an offer. “What happened was, it was a business move to just go in and explore the potential of what would happen. I said [to my agent], ‘No worries, I’m happy with where I’m at, but it’s always nice to know.’ And they [LIV Golf] said, ‘We love Jason, but he’s too injured; he just gets too many injuries.’

“I don’t blame them,” Day added.

The 2015 PGA Championship winner at Whistling Straits says he has no hard feelings towards LIV. In fact, Day staying on the PGA Tour paved the way for an emotional, drought-breaking 13th career victory at the 2023 Byron Nelson event. It was his first win on tour in five years.

During that nearly half-decade, Day endured back injuries and self-doubt that had him contemplating early retirement. Day has long battled chronic lower back ailments, including having to withdraw from the 2016 BMW and Tour Championship when he was No. 2 in the FedEx Cup. He even received medical treatment mid-round at the 2019 Masters, where Day eventually finished tied for fifth.

In recent years, Day also rebuilt his swing under coach Chris Como. Day, who held the World No. 1 ranking for 47 consecutive weeks between 2016 and 2017, dropped as low as 175th at the start of 2023 before jumping to No. 20 with the Nelson victory.

“I’m so thankful and so happy that I stayed on the PGA Tour,” Day said. “I just feel that the tour was a perfect spot for me.”

Like a lot of golf fans, Day is hopeful that golf’s powerbrokers can soon find a way to have reunite LIV and PGA Tour pros to compete in more events than just the four majors. Those talks are rumoured to have ramped up in recent weeks, with PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan playing in the pro-am at the DP World Tour’s Alfred Dunhill Links event in St. Andrews with the governor of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (which finances LIV Golf), Yasir Al-Rumayyan.

“I’m hoping we join back together because there’s definitely a lot of players on the LIV tour that we miss on the PGA Tour,” Day said. ” I’ve always played very central with LIV and just never really got in the politics of it all.”

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In an article by the Sports Business Journal‘s Josh Carpenter, the search for “The Shark’s” replacement has been ongoing for several months and is being carried out by London-based recruitment firm Odgers Berndtson.

PIF has history with Odgers Berndtson, with PIF also using the firm when it hired Paul Mitchell as the new sporting director for the Premier League’s Newcastle United Football Club in July.

Donald Trump, H.E. Yasir Al Rumayyan, Greg Norman and Majed Al-Sorour the former managing director of LIV Golf

The sources confirmed that PIF leadership and Norman have looked to add to LIV Golf’s executive leadership, seeking a CRO and CLO among other C-Suite roles. It’s not clear when leadership decisions could be made.

LIV and the PIF had no comment for the story.

With numerous other executives and team managers having already been filled by LIV Golf in the previous months, LIV itself has used CAA Sports and Egon Zehnder in filling those positions.

The LIV Golf League 2025 season gets underway in Riyadh in less than four month’s time, with currently only four events having been announced on their schedule.

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At every edition of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, biographies of the star-studded amateur lineup are distributed. Most of the summaries are but a paragraph in length, briefly highlighting the various achievements of those prominent in the worlds of sport and business. Johann Rupert’s is the shortest of all, though. The driving force behind this now-23-year-old event, the South African is identified only as “Chairman of Richemont, the Swiss luxury goods group.”

That, of course, only serves as the briefest of introductions to a man who has made an almost incalculable contribution to the DP World Tour (where he is an honorary vice president), his homeland (where he has multiple times been named business leader of the year and is chairman of the South African PGA Tour), and golf, in general.

Developer of the highly rated Leopard Creek Golf Club in Mpumalanga, South Africa, Rupert is reportedly worth around $12 billion. The 74-year-old is also the ultimate golf nut, one whose beneficence commendably knows few bounds.

He is not to be messed with either. In 2005, when a magazine described Afrikaans as an “ugly language,” Rupert withdrew all advertising for his various company brands, including Alfred Dunhill.

This week, however, Rupert’s role as tournament host at St. Andrews, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns has taken on a unique significance. He is one of the few men in the world who could have convinced PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and the man in charge of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, to play golf together at a time when the state of the professional game has perhaps never been under more threat. Throw in the presence of DP World Tour chief executive Guy Kinnings and the last few days have surely moved things forward in that regard.

“Johann is so well-connected,” Kinnings said. “This is a man who speaks regularly to presidents. He and Nelson Mandela were close. He was a great friend of [the late former R&A secretary] Sir Michael Bonallack. He was also close to the founder of IMG, Mark McCormack and [Australian entrepreneur] Kerry Packer. Yet he is loved by the caddies on tour. He knows people at every level of the game. He understands business as well as anyone. He understands politics. And, while he is a proud South African, he is a citizen of the globe. He knows people the world over.”

To that end and perhaps most importantly, Rupert is known to be in favour of a coming together for the PGA Tour, the PIF and LIV Golf League and, more peripherally, the DP World Tour. Not for him the notion of conflicting and competing major tours playing alongside each other, parallel but never intersecting.

Yasir Al-Rumayyan, governor of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, shakes hands with Johann Rupert at the Dunhill Links – Warren Little

“Since I grew up near Leopard Creek, I have long been aware of just how much Johann does for South African golf and the game in general,” said Thriston Lawrence, the third man alongside Rory McIlroy and Billy Horschel in the recent playoff for the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth. “After I turned pro, I met him through his involvement with Golf RSA. He’s everywhere. He creates so many opportunities for the young up-and-coming kids. Kids of color. Kids who struggle. He helps everyone and tries to give them all advance to go after their dreams. I can only say I appreciate enormously all that he does.

“He definitely had a plan this week. I smiled when I saw who he had playing together. I have to think he has a finger in the bigger pie too. He has a plan for all the tours to get together and sort out their problems. He clearly wants to see a global result.”

Lawrence, as you might expect, isn’t the only one who has picked up on Rupert’s hardly covert strategy. His wishes for the future are clear to see

“Look at the field this week,” continued Kinnings. “It is a mixture of DP World Tour players, PGA Tour members and those from LIV and an example of the sort of thing we could have going forward. You can see what Johann is doing. And he is doing it at the Home of Golf. He is bringing everyone together. He wants to help the process and take the game global. He can see the opportunities that we have right now, but he can also see the threats. He wants us to take advantage of the opportunities and leave golf in a better place.”

Noble stuff. And Kinnings is not above bragging about how great things have been on the DP World circuit these last few weeks. But he is justified in doing so. The Irish Open, BMW PGA, Spanish Open and now this week have provided a glimpse into an exciting future that could and should encompass the very best from all the current tours.

“This is a reminder of what the fans want to see,” confirmed Kinnings. “Johann knows that and sees that. He has great insight. This week he is making a statement. In fact, I’d want Johann in the chair during the current negotiations. He has the stature and commands the respect of everyone. And he’s neutral. He doesn’t have a foot in any camp. And he has a great record of bringing people together.”

Indeed, Rupert has many admirers beyond those running tours. Longtime Sky Sports commentator and former European Tour player Ewen Murray is another long-term admirer.

“Johann is not the sort of guy who tells you what he has done behind the scenes, he just does it,” says the Scot. “The kids in South Africa have a winter tour and a summer tour. So many of them are good players who have a chance to develop because of Johann. It’s all very well him saying to youngsters he can get them starts in pro events. That’s the easy part. For him anyway. But developing them properly is difficult. He looks at the talent. He looks at the character of the person. And he is colour-blind in that respect.

“He keeps an eye on them all until he thinks they are ready to get a chance. And he’s been doing that for 30 years. Ernie Els’ development tour and the foundations of just about every South African player— Johann is involved in them all. He’s one of the most exceptional men I’ve ever met in golf. When you see so many players at the Dunhill every year, you know it is part of their way of saying ‘thank you’ to him. They know how much he has done. Yet he never talks about his achievements.”

Still, amidst the sea of players Rupert has helped over the years, perhaps no one is as much in his debt as McIlroy. Back in 2007 as a newly turned pro, the teenage Northern Irishman received an invitation to the Dunhill Links. By finishing third, he won €211,321, avoided the roulette table that was the upcoming qualifying school and immediately earned his card for 2008 on what was then the European Tour.

“The tournaments Johann has put on here in St. Andrews are one thing,” said the four-time major champion. “He has been a great advocate for the game of golf. The support he has given to the South Africans is another thing, of course. So many great players owe a lot to him. I do too. He gave me an invite 17 years ago when he didn’t have to. That was a week that changed my life. I’ll always be grateful.”

And so say so many.

Main Image: David Cannon

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Both can play a bit—Monahan more so, even if he needs to work on shouting “fore” having almost taken out a marshal right of the seventh fairway—and both had their moments in the sunshine that put a metaphorical smile on the face of the normally bleak, barren and desolate Carnoustie links. (The Old Course at St. Andrews and Kingsbarns also feature in the pro-am event.) And both seemed to be enjoying the company of the other. It takes a while to complete 18-holes in the Dunhill Links—rounds tend to take almost five-and-a-half hours—so there is time to chat. Which is what Monahan and Al-Rumayyan did at length while waiting for the three-group pile-up on the par-5 sixth tee to dissipate.

Indeed, something of a huddle developed, one joined at various times by Horschel, Rory McIlroy and various others eager to say hello.

“We didn’t talk about what’s going on in the game,” shrugged McIlroy, who opened with a three-under 69. “We talked about Newcastle United [the Saudi-owned English Premier League soccer club]. We talked about some of the other stuff Yasir owns. It was all very cordial. Other than that, I obviously didn’t see much of what was going on in the group ahead, but it’s not as if we don’t all know each other. We’ve been doing this dance for a couple of years now. I’m not sure we can take much from today. They were behaving like golfers, which is what we are here to do. Who knows? I keep saying time will tell. And there’s only so many ways I can answer the same question.”

Ross Parker – SNS Group

So what exactly was being said between the two main protagonists in their many private moments must remain something of a mystery. Neither had anything to say publicly at the conclusion of their rounds. Monahan turned down a request from the waiting media. And Yasir? One look at the grim-faced henchmen in the golf cart following H.E (His Excellency) was enough to discourage even the bravest journalist.

Still, Johann Rupert, the billionaire businessman whose “toy” this tournament is, did offer some background as to how Monahan and H.E. conveniently found their way into the 9 a.m. group on Carnoustie’s 10th tee. Long a proponent of a Neville Chamberlain like “peace for our time” accord, the South African owned up to being half of the duo behind the pairing.

“[DP World Tour chief executive] Guy Kinnings asked the one party if he wouldn’t mind playing with the other party and I asked the other party,” said Rupert. “They both said ‘absolutely.’ I think there has been a lot of misunderstandings about who did what and when. But I have known Jay for a very long time and I have got to know His Excellency as well and they both only have the best interests of golf at heart. I think if we keep on having days like today. Golf is supposed to be a maker of friends.”

Rupert also asked for some perspective amidst the current clamouring for a solution to what is, after all, just a sport, albeit also a business worth millions.

“We have a war going on in Ukraine and a terrible situation in the Middle East and another war going on in Sudan that most non-Africans don’t even know about,” he said. “And we argue about golf. I think we should have two strong tours working together and all parties working together. Surely all we want to do is see the best players in the world playing together and the majority of them would like it.”

Richard Heathcote

On that front, Rupert has done an excellent job. As well as most of the DP World Tour’s biggest names, the field this week boasts 14 players from the LIV Golf League, headed by Brooks Koepka and Jon Rahm. Rahm’s 65 at Carnoustie was the best of the LIV contingent but four shots more than it took South African Darren Fichardt to negotiate Kingsbarns, typically the course where the lowest scores occur.

Not surprisingly, his fine play—especially on the greens—had Rahm in fine fettle, to the point where he was even making mildly optimistic noises about the subject no one else wanted to touch.

“I won’t let myself believe anything until it is actually true. I hope so. But having commissioner Monahan here, Guy Kinnings as well and having His Excellency here and, by the looks of it, all spending some time together should be something that makes us all feel hopeful for the future,” said the former U.S. Open and Masters champion. “But, at this point, I don’t want to create an expectation and then not meet it. But I’m hopeful.”

Then he smiled. Which is a good thing in any language.

Main Image: David Cannon

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