Justin Thomas is just trying to keep his head down.
Not when it comes to golf, The Players Championship or his quest to pick up what would be his first PGA Tour win since the PGA Championship in 2022. He’s very focused on those things.
But in regards to the PGA Tour’s ongoing negotiations with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and LIV Golf — which aren’t expected to wrap up anytime soon despite nearly two full years of talks — Thomas doesn’t want to be involved.
“I’m glad I don’t know more or I’m not more invested because I think it would be mentally draining, physically draining,” he said at TPC Sawgrass on Tuesday. “It just would be exhausting.”
With how things have gone, it’s easy to understand why he would feel that way. The Tour and the PIF have been in talks for their partnership since Tour commissioner Jay Monahan made his surprise merger announcement in June 2023. Since then, not much has really changed in the golf world — other than things quickly becoming much more civilized between the two leagues.
Talks are still ongoing, and President Donald Trump has gotten involved in recent weeks. But Monahan didn’t have any real news about reunification when he addressed reporters on Tuesday.
“We’re committed to these negotiations and to doing everything that we can to drive to reunification for our fans,” Monahan said. “That said, we’re not going to do anything that diminishes the strength of our platform or that momentum that we have with our fans and partners.”
So when that deal does get done, if at all, still remains to be seen.
“I think the biggest hangup is in how we see the highest level of competitive golf going forward,” Adam Scott, who is the head of the player advisory council and part of the negotiations, said on Tuesday. “The product of LIV and the product of the PGA Tour work in very different ways. So I think the challenge is figuring out how that can come together and be really [reunified], which is kind of what everyone is shooting for.”
Thomas has won 15 times on the Tour in his career, though his last win was nearly three full years ago now. He has three top-10 finishes already this season, including a runner-up finish at The American Express in January, and he’s entering this week at No. 9 in the Official World Golf Rankings. Thomas will tee off alongside Hideki Matsuyama and Ludvig Åberg in the first two rounds this week in northern Florida.
Even though the Tour-LIV storyline is still completely dominating the sport, Thomas is happy about one bit of progress in the negotiations. It took 10 questions before someone asked him about it on Tuesday.
“I think this is like the third time I’ve played this tournament while this has been going on in some way, shape or form,” Thomas said. “Yeah, I think we’re kind of like past the level of exhaustion. At least it’s not consuming everything we’re being asked about.”
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