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The intervention of President Donald Trump in the negotiations between the PGA Tour and the golf LIV has “considerably strengthened” the hopes of bringing together the fractured sport, but “hedges” for an agreement remains, said on Tuesday the PGA Tour commissioner, Jay Monahan.
Speaking before the TPC Sawgrass players’ championship, Monahan said Trump, who organized two White House talks involving PGA and VIV leaders funded by Saudi Arabia, had entered into an agreement between the two parties.
But Monahan told a press conference that if certain obstacles had been removed during the negotiations, “others remain” without revealing what the stumbling blocks prevent a final agreement were.
The hopes of a breakthrough increased after Trump welcomed the heads of PGA and Liv at the White House last month in talks that Monahan described as “real and substantial”.
“These talks were considerably strengthened by President Trump’s desire to serve as a facilitator,” Monahan said on Tuesday.
“President Trump is a golf fan for life. He firmly believes in the power and potential of the game, and he was extremely generous with his time and influence to help conclude an agreement.
“He wants to see the game come together. We want to see the game together. His involvement has made the prospect of reunification very real.”
Monahan said that he had established a “mutual respect” relationship with the president of Liv golf, Yasir al-Rumayyan, who, according to him, could possibly be welcomed to the board of directors of the PGA Tour finally “to advance the world game”.
– tired players –
However, Monahan said that even if “important aspects” Liv Golf could be incorporated into the PGA Tour, any unification agreement “would not decrease the strength of our platform”.
“Our team is fully engaged in reunification,” said Monahan. “The only agreement we regret is the one that compromises the essence of what makes the golf game and the PGA Tour so exceptional.”
Asked an example of what could decrease the PGA Tour, Monahan was tight, but hinted that the dead end could be linked to the traditional four -round format of PGA Tour and 72 holes compared to the abbreviated standard of 54 holes of the liv.
“If you look at the PGA Tour today and the strength of our organization, the momentum that we have as an organization and what we defend, I mean that in the end, if you are a player all over the world, it is the platform you want to get,” he said.
“These tournaments are 72 -hole game tournaments in historic and emblematic places … It is who we are as an organization, and it is who we will always be as an organization.”
Monahan said fans just wanted to see the best players playing against each other. Currently, the four annual majors of golf are the only events that see players from the two circuits materialize.
“I think what our fans tell us is that they want to see the best players in the world play more often together and that is really what is really at the center of conversations,” he said.
The double winner of Major Justin Thomas said that the players had been tired by the long -standing saga of the golf schism.
“I think it’s the third time I have been playing this tournament when it takes place in one way or a form or form,” said Thomas. “I think we are a bit like passing the level of exhaustion … obviously like the rest of us, we would like this to be done as soon as possible.”
RCW / JC
