Multiple PGA Tour winner slams LIV Golf over PIF negotiations: "It's bizarre"
Davis Love III has provided an extensive update into the current negotiations between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf's Saudi backers.
Multiple PGA Tour winner Davis Love III says talks to ratify the framework agreement with LIV Golf's backers aren't going anywhere fast as he described the current situation as 'bizarre'.
Speaking to Golfweek's Adam Schupak, the PGA Tour veteran said he didn't see 'any way' in which a deal can be agreed before the 31 December deadline.
Sources on both sides appear to be increasingly less optimistic an agreement can be struck between the once bitter rivals.
That includes Love, who told the publication the establishment of LIV forced the Tour to 'look at what has been going on for 53 years'.
"And think about what the next 50 years will look like," he told the publication.
Love was one of the most prominent critics of the rival league and once even went as far as suggesting players could strike when three LIV players tried to use the courts to get into the FedEx Cup playoffs last August.
He said: "I told some of them this in the very beginning. I'm not against you as a person, I'm against what's happening and I think you're making a bad business decision.
"Jay [Monahan, PGA Tour commissioner] tried to explain it to these guys, you are signing with our competitor and giving our competitor leverage that is going to hurt our ability to make decisions and hurt our financial position.
"You don't really understand that it is not just playing in this golf tournament versus that one. I'm still against the fact that this is a hostile takeover.
"These guys signed with a company that is trying to take us over. If a bunch of guys left Pepsi and went over to Coke and tried to take over Pepsi would you ever let them come back to Pepsi? I don't think so. It may not be a perfect comparison but they sued us to make us change our rules so they could get what they wanted."
Love said the situation with LIV goes beyond whether or not the rival tour gets world ranking points.
He continued: "We might have screwed up the last three years, now how do we set up the PGA Tour for the future? Is there a different model? We're independent contractors, maybe we're not independent contractors?
"The lawsuits are dropped; now what do we want to do, what does [the PIF] want to do? Do they really want to keep blowing that much money on LIV? Probably not."
So what is the problem? Why aren't the talks progressing?
He continued: "It's just like the lawsuit: we're never going to go to trial if they don't ever do discovery. Our staff and players did discovery. They refused.
"We made an offer and if you don't ever communicate, we can't make another offer. It's bizarre what's going on. It's a long way from anything. The sharks are circling. Now everyone wants to invest in the PGA Tour."
Love's references to the 'sharks circling' is clearly a nod to the fact the PGA Tour reportedly have multiple entities lined up and ready to invest.
Endeavour, worth an estimated $10bn, recently had a huge investment offer turned down, according to their president Mark Shapiro.
Love continued: "We don't need money, that's the beautiful thing. One very smart business person said, 'You may think you're in a mess but I buy distressed companies and try to fix them to make money. Your company isn't in trouble, you make a lot of money. It's perfectly fine the way it is. All you're trying to do is make it better. You're in a great position.'"
Read more:
Ben joined the GolfMagic team in September 2021, initially as a content executive.
These days, he assumes the position of content manager.
