What’s the latest status on the PGA Tour-PIF deal? That question has been circulating in the community since June 2023. Unfortunately, there’s still no finalized deal—only ongoing updates. After a recent governors’ dinner, US President Donald Trump revealed that the long-awaited LIV Golf-PGA Tour merger is almost done and said there’s a “very good chance” that this long-awaited $3 billion deal will be finalized soon. But now, LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil is saying otherwise. Surprised? Well, the fans aren’t.
Bob Harig, golf writer for Sports Illustrated, recently shared this shocking update on his X. He said, “LIV Golf CEO Is Prepared to Move On Without PGA Tour Deal.” That’s right. However, when asked about the reason, O’Neil had a different yet straight answer. “If the deal can help grow the game of golf, I’ll jump in with two feet,” he said at Trump National Doral ahead of LIV Golf’s Miami event. He also revealed that a deal in particular isn’t needed to grow the game and added, “Do we have to do a deal? No. It would be nice to do a deal, so long as we’re all focused on the same things. So, do we have to do a deal or need a deal? Whatever word you use, leave that to somebody smarter than me.”
Although O’Neil has been in touch with Jay Monahan since becoming a CEO, he hasn’t been part of the deal discussion. As per him, the PIF is taking care of that. Following the discussion, the CEO gets the brief of the meeting from Al-Rumayyan. However, he is still positive about the deal and added, “I’m sure there’s a way we can work together, and there’s a whole host of things that will work. But right now, but my focus, 100 percent of my time, is making sure that Adelaide becomes the floor, not the ceiling.”
LIV Golf CEO Is Prepared to Move On Without PGA Tour Deal https://t.co/o3hyzM55Ri
— Bob Harig (@BobHarig) April 2, 2025
Clearly, it doesn’t matter to LIV Golf CEO; whether the merger happens or not, he is focusing only on events to make them better. However, it cannot be said the same for LIV Golfers. The accreditation with the breakaway league has been holding the players from participating in the majors. Although former CEO Greg Norman requested OWGR to include LIV Golf events in their rankings, they rejected him due to LIV Golf’s controversial 54-hole format.
It’s still not confirmed when the deal will be finalized or if it will actually happen. But the involvement of big names like Donald Trump, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, Tiger Woods, and PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan, indicates that they are onto something, and we might receive a concrete update soon. Let’s just say it doesn’t happen. What will the community’s reaction be? Well, they won’t be surprised.
Fans have the same thoughts as Scott O’Neil
One fan agreed and said having no deal is a better idea. “I think that’s a good idea,” they said. However, the reason behind that was different, as they asked, “Let’s be honest: of the 50-odd players in the LIV system, how many would actually be in the top 50 if they were playing OWGR requirement golf against the PGA Tour?“ Interestingly, Bryson DeChambeau doesn’t play on the PGA Tour but still holds the rank #19; meanwhile, 8x PGA Tour pros like Billy Horschel are ranked after him. Despite not playing on Monahan’s tour, DeChambeau was able to jump 28 spots in the rankings and was ranked #10 thanks to his triumph at the 2024 US Open.
It’s been two years since fans have been waiting for the long-awaited merger, but it hasn’t happened yet. Talking about it, another said, “It’s a story…really not a surprise to most. Would anyone expect him to just lay down if a deal wasn’t done? In your opinion, what will be LIV’s next move?“ highlighting, be it deal or no deal, LIV Golf won’t depend on it and will continue to move. Scott O’Neil’s thoughts were somewhat the same as he was clear about his mission and said “Let’s grow the game of golf, let’s focus on our mission.” Alluding to the same fact, another fan said, “I don’t think it matters.”
This fan took the PGA Tour’s side and expressed, “Keep them separate.. good vs evil. Makes for a great majors storyline and pga is doing just fine without brooks and Bryson in signature and regular events.” Highlighting that even if famous players like Bryson DeChambeau or Brooks Koepka aren’t on the tour, it hasn’t affected it as much in the last two years. Speaking of Koepka, last month, Fred Couples revealed something interesting and said, “I talk to Brooks Koepka all the time. He wants to come back. I will say that I believe he really wants to come back and play the Tour.” Well, that seems true because the 5x major champion’s main target has always been the majors, which hasn’t changed over the years.
In order to grow the game, LIV Golf’s events are scattered around the globe, like Hong Kong, Singapore, etc, meanwhile PGA Tour is limited to America for most of its events. Despite that, big names like Tiger Woods, Scottie Scheffler, and Rory McIlroy decided to stay on the PGA Tour. One fan took that into account and said, “That’s totally fine. Let LIV parade around internationally, and the PGA will keep doing its thing. Doing that will never put LIV ahead of the PGA because most, if not all, top talent will still choose the PGA.”
LIV Golf paid a hefty amount to esteemed pros like Phil Mickelson and Jon Rahm. While that might not change, this fan believes “It sounds like the money supply will continue long term. Good to see he isn’t antagonistic toward the PGA and thinks they can exist together.” They also talked about how Scott O’Neil isn’t ‘antagonistic’ towards the PGA Tour and is also focusing on his own job. Meanwhile, Greg Norman has been taking jabs at the PGA Tour. Back in July last year, he said, “It’s very simple; one word: consistent; we stay consistent. We’ve stayed true to our model. There was a lot of headwinds in the beginning because the monopolist really controlled the game of golf on a global basis.”
How important do you think the PGA Tour-PIF merger is? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below!
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