Report: PGA Tour and Saudi PIF merger deadline to extend until The Masters

The PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund (PIF) merger deadline is expected to be pushed back until April, a source close to negotiations has told the Telegraph. 

There was confidence from both parties the shock "framework agreement" between the PGA Tour and Saudi PIF would be signed and sealed by December 31, 2023. 

But with just days remaining until the end of the year, a report in the The Telegraph has confirmed there is likely going to be an extension to the deal. 

It is understood the deadline will be pushed back until the end of March.

That is just before the season's first major at The Masters.

The framework agreement between the PGA Tour and Saudi PIF, which backs the LIV Golf League, was first announced on 6 June.

A few days after the announcement, a five-page document was leaked. 

You can read it in full here. 

The creation of this new entity would see the PGA Tour and LIV Golf's bankrollers combine their assets, as well as those on the DP World Tour.

The PGA Tour would remain a non-profit organisation and would retain full control over how its tournaments are played. 

Fast forward six months and Saudi PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan was scheduled to meet with PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan just before Christmas - but no official details have been confirmed. 

"There’s no chance a deal can be announced by the end of this week," a leading industry figure told Telegraph Sport.

"But, maybe by the end of March."

Davis Love III recently suggested PIF representatives are being tough on the negotiations and described the current stalemate as 'bizarre'. 

Another report by Golf Channel suggested LIV players believe the deal is unlikely to be agreed.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, one breakaway tour pro said: "We're no further along in this thing. It's the same group of people involved [on both sides].

"I've not really seen any change at the Tour. I don't think anything's going to happen."

Even Tiger Woods is unsure about it. 

"I would say that the answer is murky," Tiger Woods, who joined the PGA Tour policy board in August, said earlier this month. 

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