A PGA Tour delegation of Tiger Woods, Australia’s Adam Scott and commissioner Jay Monahan are meeting US President Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday afternoon (Friday morning, AEDT), a source familiar with the matter confirmed to Golf Digest, as Trump and the tour continue to negotiate a potential deal with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.
According to multiple reports, PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan will also be in attendance. PIF has a heavy American presence this week, as the Future Investment Initiative Institute Priority Summit, backed by Saudi Arabia, is happening in Miami.
Last week, Monahan met with the media at the Genesis Invitational at Torrey Pines and expressed optimism that a deal with PIF – originally announced as a framework agreement on June 6, 2023 – was close to coming to fruition. Monahan, along with player representative Scott, met with President Trump two weeks prior, which Monahan called a “productive visit” and asserted the goal was for “the game of golf operating under one tour with all the top players playing on that one tour”. When asked if that meant the end of LIV Golf, Monahan referred to the “reunification of the game”.
“Candidly, that’s what fans want,” Monahan explained. “So when you talk about reunification, that’s all the best players in the world competing with each other and against each other.”
The commissioner’s comments were noteworthy, as there has been belief in golf circles that – should the tour and LIV’s financial backer ultimately finalise a peace treaty – the entities would remain separate in some capacity in order to appease United States government anti-trust regulations. While that may still come to pass, Monahan’s repeated insistence last week of a singular, unified tour could not be ignored.
“Listen, if you think about what the fans want, the fans want reunification. That’s what we’re focused on. We’ve operated in a world where there’s more than one and the PGA Tour has performed very well,” Monahan said. “But in the long run, is that the best thing for fans? Is that the best thing for the game? We’re trying to solve it so everybody benefits.”
While Woods did not attend the previous meeting due to the passing of his mother, Woods also expressed conviction about a possible deal when appearing on CBS Sports’ final round coverage of the Genesis Invitational.
“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.
President Trump was brought into the negotiations earlier this month at the tour’s insistence. There has been belief that the Department of Justice under Trump would be more willing to green-light a potential PGA Tour–PIF deal. Shortly after the 2024 election, Trump 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 DC.
When asked if the tour may incorporate Trump properties into the tour’s plans going forward, Monahan replied, “We’ve played at Trump venues in the past. While we haven’t talked about that with the president, I certainly see a day where we’re adding Trump venues to our schedule.”
The news comes a day after a judge in Canada validated service of legal papers in a court case that could see Al-Rumayyan sued for the alleged “malicious intent of destroying” the family of the state’s former intelligence chief, Dr Saad Aljabri, at the behest of Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Dr Aljabri has been praised by American, English and Canadian intelligence agencies for his work in helping combat violent threats against citizens.
