LIV Golf’s financial backer, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, is considering a “potential partnership” with the DP World Tour, Bloomberg reports. Discussions between the European Golf Federation and the sovereign wealth fund are separate from ongoing negotiations between the PIF and PGA Tour Enterprises.
If an agreement between the PIF and DP World Tour parties comes to fruition, members of LIV Golf may be offered access to or membership on the latter tour. In exchange, DP World Tour will receive financial compensation and improve its balance sheet, which has often struggled in non-Ryder Cup years.
In 2022, the PGA Tour and DP World Tour expanded their initial strategic alliance with the PGA Tour to provide operational support and additional investment to the DP World Tour. Through this partnership, which will run until 2036, the DP World Tour guarantees annual prize money increases for the next five years.
Unlike the PGA Tour, the DP World Tour has not completely closed off eligibility for LIV golfers to compete in its tournaments. The DP World Tour fines players for participating in unsanctioned events and allows those who have paid off their debts to play on its tour.
LIV Golf's Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton are among the league members continuing to compete on the DP World Tour this fall to fulfill membership requirements ahead of the 2025 Ryder Cup. Hatton won the 2024 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, while the likes of Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed also competed on the DP World Tour.
It has been 18 months since the PGA Tour and PIF announced a framework agreement to merge commercial operations into a new for-profit entity, later named PGA Tour Enterprises. The deadline for the agreement expired on December 31, 2023, but the two sides continue to negotiate.
Meanwhile, Strategic Sports Group – a consortium of U.S. investors and sports team owners – invested $1.5 billion in PGA Tour Enterprises, with another $1.5 billion available. It is believed that PIF's investment in PGA Tour Enterprises will reach a similar figure.
