One year ago, the golf world assumed a deal was imminent between the PGA Tour and the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF)—LIV Golf’s beneficiary.
After all, the framework agreement between the two sides, which also includes the DP World Tour, set a concrete deadline of Dec. 31, 2023. But alas, that date has come and gone without any arraignment between golf’s warring tours.
Then, in February 2024, on the dawn of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, the tour announced that it had received a substantial $1.5 billion investment from the Strategic Sports Group (SSG), a consortium of American sports owners. That group includes Steve Cohen, the billionaire hedge fund manager who owns the New York Mets.
Fast-forward to Monday, when the upstart TGL Golf League hosted an event in Manhattan for its New York-based club. Cohen, also an investor in TGL, expressed confidence in a deal between the tour and the PIF reaching the finish line soon.
“It’s a lot of moving parts, and I think we’ll get there,” Cohen said per Bloomberg.
So many variables still need to be sorted, including a potential intervention from the Department of Justice (DOJ), which reportedly has concerns over this deal violating anti-trust laws. The Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI) also has intervened, holding three separate hearings over the past 18 months. The PSI is worried about the Saudi Arabian Kingdom’s goals and objectives related to sportswashing.
Yet, since 2022, numerous major champions and former PGA Tour stalwarts have flocked to LIV Golf, receiving massive paydays to join the start-up league. Those players, who include Phil Mickelson, Jon Rahm, Cameron Smith, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, and Bryson DeChambeau, have since been suspended by the PGA Tour. This group can only compete against the tour’s best players, such as Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler, and Xander Schauffele, in the four major championships and a handful of DP World Tour events.
“The goal is to reunite all the players — it’s fragmented right now,” Cohen added.
“Getting to play in one tournament, one venue, whatever it is, is exciting.”
Some feel that a unified golf schedule will become a reality in 2026. Nevertheless, given Cohen’s pedigree as a sports owner and investor, his confidence should be a welcome sight for golf fans who long to see a reunited sport again.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.