LIV Golf, PGA Tour seem farther apart two years since framework agreement

• The PGA Tour and LIV Golf have yet to reach an official agreement uniting the two leagues, despite a “framework agreement” two years prior.

So much has happened since the PGA Tour and LIV Golf entered a historic “framework agreement” two years ago, June 6.

One thing that has not happened: A deal uniting the two leagues.

Not only have the sides failed to end the sport’s longest-running civil war, they now appear further apart than ever.

The PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which owns LIV Golf, have had no reported meetings since late February. The sides met twice in February at the White House with Donald Trump, the man who after being elected president in November boasted it would take him “the better part of 15 minutes” to bring the two sides together once he’s in office.

Five months since the inauguration and the wedge appears deeper.

“If you want to figure out what’s going to happen in the game of golf, go to the other tour and ask those guys,” world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler said in May about LIV.

“I’m still here playing the PGA Tour. We had a tour where we all played together and the guys that left, it’s their responsibility, I think, to bring the tours back together. Go see where they’re playing this week and ask them.”

Scheffler’s shot at LIV was clear. While the league certainly made an impact on the Tour early by poaching some of its top players along with forcing the Tour to make more money available to its players through signature events and the Player Impact Program, that has diminished.

LIV’s momentum stalled since signing Jon Rahm

LIV had all the momentum after signing Jon Rahm 18 months ago.

That is gone.

Tyrrell Hatton followed Rahm, but, since then, the league has not attracted any marquee names.

The latest addition, former Arizona State standout Josele Ballester, is No. 5 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking.

Meanwhile, the top-ranked amateur, Luke Clanton from Florida State, is making his professional debut at the PGA Tour’s Canadian Open.

“I want to play the PGA Tour, pretty simple,” Clanton said when asked whether he considered joining LIV. “I want to play against the best, I want to compete in majors, and that’s it. Simple.”

The PGA Tour now is in a position of strength as LIV stands firm on its demands to remain under its current format, despite a flawed business model.

While the PIF’s investment in LIV Golf is into the billions, the return on investment is far less. LIV lost $394 million in 2023, excluding its U.S. events, according to Money In Sport, which published LIV’s financials from LIV Golf’s UK arm.

Although PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan said in March he can see a future where the leagues are aligned with room to “integrate important aspects of LIV Golf into the PGA Tour platform,” he added that “hurdles” remain.

“We will not do so in a way that diminishes the strength of our platform or the very real momentum we have with our fans and our partners,” said Monahan, who has headed the negotiations with the PIF’s Yasir Al-Rumayyan.

Monahan’s comment came a few weeks after negotiations appeared to have broken down during the late February meeting.

The biggest hint came from Rory McIlroy, who said following the meeting it takes “two to tango,” before adding, “I don’t think the PGA Tour needs a deal.”

Then Scott O’Neil, who replaced Greg Norman in January as LIV’s CEO, told a group of media members in April at Trump National Doral where LIV held its first U.S.-based event of the season, LIV, too, does not need a deal.

“Have to do a deal? No,” O’Neil said. “Nice to do a deal? So long as we’re all focused on the same thing, which is growing the game of golf. I think we’re all kind of up for that.”

The most recent known offer was in March when the British daily Guardian was the first to report that the PIF was willing to make a $1.5 billion investment into the for-profit PGA Tour Enterprises in exchange for LIV Golf continuing its current format and schedule, and Al-Rumayyan becoming a co-chairman of PGA Tour Enterprises.

That was quickly turned down by the Tour.

LIV Golf still being crushed by PGA Tour in TV ratings

The ratings boost LIV was counting on to help its cause after signing a multiyear deal with Fox Sports has not happened.

According to GOLF.com, the seven Sundays this year in which both tours have held an event, the PGA Tour is averaging 3.1 million viewers on CBS and NBC, while LIV is averaging 175,000 on FOX, FS1 and FS2. About 18 times more.

LIV, though, held its first four events in Saudi Arabia, Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore; and since has played in South Korea. Those tournaments are being aired at all hours of the day in the U.S.

The best comparison came in early April when LIV had one of its highest-profile events of the year, if not the highest, at Doral; and the PGA Tour stop was the Valero Open in San Antonio, a lower-tier event that lacked several stars.

Valero drew 1.746 million viewers for its final round compared with 484,000 for LIV.

LIV’s best ratings were below the average for TGL, the indoor, tech-infused golf league created by Tiger Woods and McIlroy. TGL, in its inaugural season, averaged 500,000 viewers; 650,000 for the 10 prime-time matches on ESPN (nine were carried by ESPN2).

LIV’s initial attempt to lure PGA Tour players was impressive with Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau and Phil Mickelson among those who made the jump.

They later were joined by Cam Smith and Rahm.

While Rahm and DeChambeau continue to play at a high level – as do others such as Joaquin Niemann and Patrick Reed – several have regressed since joining LIV.

Koepka, Johnson and Smith, who have combined to win eight major championships and were signed to contracts worth at least $100 million to defect from the PGA Tour, according to reports, missed the cut at the year’s first two majors – Masters and PGA Championship.

LIV Golf not going away … deal or no deal

Still, LIV Golf continues to operate as if it will be around … deal or no deal.

While the league has not added a golfer of note in the past 18 months, it continues to secure sponsorship deals and attract high-level officials.

And O’Neil has restarted discussions with the Official World Golf Ranking for LIV golfers to earn points.

The PGA Tour clearly does not need LIV. And with PIF, valued at more than $900 billion, willing and able to support LIV despite it losing hundreds of million of dollars annually, LIV doesn’t need the PGA Tour.

That leaves many to wonder whether a deal ever will be made that unites golf’s rival leagues.

Tom D’Angelo is a senior sports columnist and reporter for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at tdangelo@pbpost.com.