Golf: Golf-PGA Tour and PIF talks accelerating but issues remain, says Monahan

(Reuters) – The PGA Tour’s negotiations with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) are accelerating but it is prepared to go it alone with new partners Strategic Sports Group (SSG) if a deal cannot be done, commissioner Jay Monahan said on Tuesday.

Monahan, speaking at TPC Sawgrass where the PGA Tour’s flagship event, the 50th Players Championship, gets underway on Thursday, stressed he is focusing all his energy on finalising a deal with the LIV Golf backers, bringing unity to a sport that has been split since the arrival of the rebel circuit and opening up new global growth opportunities.

“I do believe that negotiating a deal with PIF is the best outcome,” Monahan told reporters. “Obviously it has to be the right deal for both sides, like any situation or negotiation.

“As I’ve said on a number of occasions, you can’t negotiate a deal like this in public, so I will be brief.

“I recently met with the governor of the PIF, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, and our negotiations are accelerating as we spend time together.

“We have a shared vision to quiet the noise and unlock golf’s worldwide potential.”

There have been reports a deal could be finalised before the start of the season’s first major, the Masters in April, but several key issues still need to be worked through.

Monahan struck an optimistic tone throughout his nearly hour long press conference but remained tight-lipped about negotiations while conceding several hurdles remain, including an investigation by the U.S. Justice Department to determine if the deal would violate antitrust law.

There is also the tricky issue of players who signed on with LIV Golf for monster paydays returning to the PGA Tour and how the team component LIV has pushed might work.

“Balancing the interests of a membership of 200 plus players is complicated, and it’s challenging,” said Monahan when asked about returning players.

“I think when you’re in a negotiation like this and you’re in a time like this, it requires open-mindedness, it requires flexibility, and it requires a long-term view and a long-term vision.

“I think we’re not going to be able to satisfy everyone, and that goes for both sides.”

While Monahan did not want to speculate on a deal, that has been nearly a year in the works, collapsing he said if it did the PGA Tour would push forward with the help of $3 billion investment from new partner SSG, a consortium of U.S. sports team owners.

Rather than complicate a deal Monahan said the SSG’s involvement has helped push along negotiations with the PIF.

“I think that in any negotiation, both sides have to work together to reach that successful outcome,” said Monahan. “If we can’t, I’ll continue my focus on all the areas I just outlined, and we’ll continue to compete and be as strong a Tour as we can possibly be, with a great new investor in SSG, with a lot of opportunity for that growth.

“So if we don’t negotiate a deal, then I think ultimately we’re back in the same posture that we’re in, and we haven’t unified our game and taken advantage of this unique point in time.”

(Reporting by Steve Keating in Toronto. Editing by Toby Davis)