More than a year on, the controversial “framework agreement” between the PGA Tour, Dubai World Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund has yet to be concluded. PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan said Wednesday that parts of the original outline are still being worked on as negotiations continue, but everyone is “starting from scratch.”
Monahan did not provide specific details of the negotiations, which he characterized as active in comments to reporters at the Travelers Championship outside Hartford.
“I would say the framework agreement still makes sense,” Monahan said in his first public comments after the Players Championship in March. “Some aspects of it will definitely continue to play out.”
“But I would say we took a step back, we all took a step back and then we started over. Especially with the introduction of the trade committee, the involvement of our players, I would say the vast majority of what we talked about was starting from scratch. But any time you're building from the ground up, part of what you're talking about, part of the history of these conversations is important context.”
The initial framework agreement outlined the composition of a new board that would have included Yasir Al-Rumayyan, president of PIF, which backs LIV Golf. But that did not happen as no agreement has been reached.
The Tour is also funding its new for-profit PGA Tour venture through Strategic Sports Group, a private equity firm comprised of various professional sports owners and groups. While other investments were part of the original framework agreement, it is unclear how much. To date, Strategic Sports Group has committed $1.5 billion to the new venture, and the Tour has announced plans for equity ownership for current and former players.
The transaction committee was set up outside the board to negotiate directly with PIF and includes Monaghan, Tiger Woods, Adam Scott, Rory McIlroy and board members Joe Gott and John Henry from SSG and Fenway Sports Group.
“I'll go back to the meeting that took place two weeks ago on Friday in New York, where our entire trading committee, including Tiger Woods and Adam Scott in person, Rory dialing in from the Memorial, PIF Governor Yasser Al-Rumayyan and PIF representatives,” Monaghan said. “It was a very productive discussion. As we said, progress was made and we continue to have a regular dialogue. I spoke to PIF at 10 this morning, and we speak multiple times a week.”
Monahan added: “People seem to think there's something going on that's not really going on, but ultimately we are the arbiters… I know there's going to be a lot of attention, there's going to be a lot of opinions, there's going to be a lot of rumors. I'm in a position where all of us are focused on trying to get the right outcome for our players, for our fans, for the game of golf, and that's where our focus is.”
Asked about McIlroy’s comments to the Justice Department two weeks ago and the level of sophistication of the discussions, Monahan said:
“I think the approach we're taking on this is that the primary focus is on making this a deal that's good for the players, the fans and all the constituents of the game. That's a commitment we all share. There's no doubt that they (the Justice Department) will be an important party to the discussion as we go through this process.”
Monahan also discussed the new exemption given to Tiger Woods, which will make him eligible to play in all limited-field signature events starting next year without a sponsor exemption.
Woods, who missed the cut in the U.S. Open and PGA Championship, was invited by sponsors to play his own event, the Genesis Invitational, in February.
The move was recommended by the Player Advisory Committee and approved by the Policy Committee. The committee also approved a plan to ensure a minimum field of 72 players at each signature event, and is discussing adding a 36-hole elimination format to all eight signature events. Currently only three events — the Genesis Championship, the Arnold Palmer Championship and the Memorial Tournament — have 36-hole elimination formats.
“I think it’s important to our membership, and it’s something we’ve discussed with the PAC, it’s important to our player directors, it’s important to our board of directors,” Monahan said of Woods’ exemption. “It’s important to me because, as the exemption says, he’s won over 80 tournaments, and I think being able to give him the opportunity to play in those tournaments — any tournament he’s played in makes it bigger and better, it draws more eyeballs, and I think as an organization we want to celebrate his excellence in that way.”
