President-elect Donald Trump boasted on the campaign trail that he would need about 15 minutes to seal a deal between the PGA Tour and the Saudi investors of LIV Golf. It started with four hours on the golf course with PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan.
The Washington Post reported that Monahan accepted an invitation from Trump to play golf at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida last Friday.
The PGA Tour confirmed the exit in a statement.
“President-elect Trump has always been a champion of the game of golf and Commissioner Monahan was honored to accept his invitation to play at Trump International,” the statement said. “The president-elect and the commissioner love the game and the commissioner enjoyed their time together.”
The next day, Trump attended the UFC heavyweight championship in New York with Elon Musk and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund governor Yasser al-Ramaian, sponsored by rival LIV Tour, which has largely cracked down on the sport.
Monaghan and Al-Rummian played golf together at the Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland last month on the European Tour.
The tour has not revealed the nature of those conversations, and Monahan has not shared details with key players to keep the discussions private.
The PGA Tour and PIF announced an agreement on June 6, 2023 for the Saudi Sovereign Wealth Fund to become an investor in a new commercial venture through the PGA Tour. It quickly caught the attention of the Justice Department, and while the agreement called for a December 31 deadline, negotiations are still ongoing.
The PGA Tour reached an agreement with Strategic Sports Group, a consortium of sports owners, to invest an initial $1.5 million in PGA Tour Enterprises that could grow to $3 billion.
Meanwhile, golf is divided as the PGA Tour bans LIV players – US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka and Jon Rahm among them – from participating in its tournaments.
All of golf’s best players meet only four times a year in the majors.
Trump shouted “Let’s go!” I joined. podcast with Jim Gray and Bill Belichick on the eve of the election and said, “It’s going to take me the better part of 15 minutes to get this deal done.”
“I’m really going to work on other things, to be honest with you,” Trump said on the podcast. “I think we have bigger problems than that. But I think we should have a tour and they should have the best players on the tour.
Trump’s golf courses hosted two LIV events in the inaugural 2022 season, three events in 2023 and one event this year. None of the Trump courses — in Miami, New Jersey and the Washington area — are on the 2025 schedule, which has not yet been completed.
Trump was excited about LIV Golf when it launched and predicted a merger was inevitable. He warned PGA Tour players on Sach’s social media platform in July 2022, “If you don’t take the money now, you won’t get anything after the merger, and just tell the original signing.” How clever they were.”
Trump has also had his battles with the PGA Tour before he was first elected, most notably when the tour pulled the World Golf Championship event from its Trump Doral in Mexico City in 2016 because the tournament could not find a sponsor. could
Among the issues to be addressed beyond any investment by the PIF are the Saudi league not taking massive signing bonuses and defectors from rival leagues to players who remain loyal to the PGA Tour. How to collect
How the Justice Department views any deal is another obstacle to negotiations.
Rory McIlroy said after the election that Trump’s stay in office could not harm the fulfillment of any agreement.
“He might be able to,” McIlroy said on Nov. 6, the day after the election. “He’s got Elon Musk, who I think is the smartest guy in the world, with him. If we get Musk on board, we might be able to do something.”
McIlroy isn’t sure about the 15-minute fix.
“I think from the outside looking in, it’s probably a little less complicated than it actually is,” said McIlroy, who serves on a transaction committee involved in the deal. But obviously Trump has a very good relationship with Saudi Arabia. He has a great relationship with golf. He is fond of golf. So, maybe. Who knows?”
