LIV Golf 'in talks' for shock DP World Tour partnership outside of PIF's ongoing PGA Tour deal
Report: Could LIV Golf and the DP World Tour be in line for a shock collaboration moving forwards, despite Saudi PIF still working on a deal with the PGA Tour?
LIV Golf is reportedly now in fresh talks to partner with the DP World Tour outside of the Saudi Public Investment Fund's (PIF) ongoing framework agreement with the PGA Tour, according to a new report in Bloomberg.
As it stands, the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and LIV Golf's bankrollers, the Saudi PIF, remain in talks to thrash out a deal in a bid to help unify the professional game.
Their framework agreement was first revealed to the world in June 2023 but some 18 months later and the deal has still not yet been completed.
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PGA Tour boss Jay Monahan and Saudi PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan recently held showdown talks while meeting each other during the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship Pro-Am at the Home of Golf in October.
But as talks continue to stall, there are some wild rumours going round the industry at the moment that the PGA Tour could end up going alone, and the DP World Tour could potentially form a worldwide tour with LIV Golf and the Asian Tour moving forwards.
That is of course just speculation right now, with plenty of key figures in the golf industry recently coming out to say they expect a deal between the PGA Tour and PIF to be completed before The Masters in April 2025.
Could DP World Tour and LIV Golf strike a new deal?
But Bloomberg understands this week that LIV Golf is considering 'a potential tie-up with the DP World Tour' while the PIF deal with the PGA Tour continues to linger on in the background.
The Bloomberg report states:
'If successful, the deal would cement LIV Golf’s position in the golfing calendar and give the DP World Tour — previously known as the European Tour — significant financial heft.'
'The talks with DP World Tour are separate from the ongoing investment discussions between the PGA Tour and the Saudi wealth fund, the people said, with both deals still possible. T
'Talks may end without an agreement, the people cautioned, asking not to be named discussing private information.'
Representatives from both LIV Golf and Saudi PIF have declined to comment any further at the moment, however, a DP World Tour spokesperson has commented:
"We remain in discussions with the PGA Tour, PGA Tour Enterprises, SSG and PIF relating to the ongoing overall picture for men’s global golf, but no agreements have been reached.”
As it stands, the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) remains hopeful of acquiring a minority stakes in PGA Tour Enterprises, a for-profit entity that will house the commercial assets of the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour.
Strategic Sports Group (SSG) has already pumped $1.5 billion into PGA Tour Enterprises, and Bloomberg understands the entity is value at around $12 billion.
SSG will reportedly add another $1.5 billion into PGA Tour Enterprises should Saudi PIF get involved as expected.
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