The North American circuit has announced that players competing on the circuit promoted by Saudi Arabia will no longer be banned from participating in PGA tournaments.
The PGA Tour has made its first approach to LIV Golf towards a possible merger. The North American golf circuit has announced that it will admit players who also participate in LIV Golf to its tournaments. This removes one of the main obstacles that hindered the coexistence between the two circuits and prevented them from reaching an agreement for a possible merger.
This decision applies to all players who have competed in LIV Golf in the past two years . In this way, PGA America guarantees that all American golfers who have competed in LIV Golf can participate in the Ryder Cup .
However, the options for European players have not changed yet. For now, to participate in the Ryder Cup and qualify for the European team, it was necessary to maintain membership of the DP World Tour (the European circuit) and to have played in at least four tournaments. In addition, if golfers participate in LIV Golf, they are obliged to pay a penalty – something that players such as Jon Rahm have not accepted.
In any case, the decision taken by the PGA America could open the doors for players like Rahm to be eligible for the Ryder Cup. In this regard, it remains to be seen what decision the DP World Tour makes in this regard.
Closer to the merger
Regardless of the position ultimately adopted by the European Tour, the PGA’s move brings the two circuits closer together just as negotiations have been reactivated , Bloomberg reported.
One of the points of friction between the two parties is Jon Rahm’s contract , as some PGA players believe that the player from Barrika should return the money if an agreement were reached and he were to compete on both circuits. The Spanish golfer signed a contract worth 525 million dollars (471 million euros) over the next four years.
Other options being considered include the possibility that players who signed with LIV Golf would pay fines for participating in PGA tournaments or would forfeit their tournament earnings. Another impediment is the reluctance of PGA players to play outside the United States , where most of the tournaments on the current tour are held . Thus, their participation in LIV Golf tournaments appears to be complicated.
Negotiations cooled with the departure of Jimmy Dune from the PGA Tour executive board. The person in charge of the agreement between the North American circuit and the Saudi Arabian resigned from his post in May , stating that “there has been no progress in the agreement with the PIF fund”, the Saudi Public Investment Fund, the main promoter of LIV Golf.
The former executive also said that with the entry of golfers into the PGA Tour executive board, “my vote and my role is superfluous ,” as reported by Sports Illustrated . The entry of players such as Tiger Woods was part of the transparency and governance measures applied to regain the confidence of the players, when the pre-agreement between circuits last year took all golfers by surprise . The Board is now made up of six players and five independent members, so that no important decision can be made in the future without the prior participation and approval of the player managers.
It should be recalled that the pre-agreement included the withdrawal of all legal proceedings opened by the PGA against LIV Golf and the golfers who changed circuits. In addition, the three organizations were expected to create a joint venture in 2024 to manage the business and commercial rights of the new circuit. PIF agreed to invest 1 billion dollars (895.7 million euros) in the new company. All these commitments remain up in the air.