Future of golf in Saudi hands after £2.4bn American investment in PGA Tour

The Saudis have been handed the chance to unify professional male golf after an American consortium, headed by the owners of Liverpool FC, made an investment in the PGA Tour that could reach £2.4 billion.

The deal with the Strategic Sports Group (SSG) comes eight months after plans were announced for a merger between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf, which could yet happen this spring.

SSG confirmed that door is still open for Saudi investment in the American tour but there are fears that because of the threat of American regulatory control and the suspicion that SSG will dilute Saudi influence, the funders of LIV Golf might now choose to remain on their own path and so cause even bigger divisions in the game.

One possible scenario could even include a partnership between the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) and the DP World Tour, which would split elite male golf in two.

Uncertainly continues to rule, despite the PGA Tour announcing that the launch of the “for-profit” PGA Tour Enterprises is “a first of its kind programme” that will hand £1.2 billion of equity to the players who have remained loyal through the LIV saga.

There would be between 180 to 200 Tour members in line for a share on a sliding scale, with the percentages based on “career accomplishments, recent achievements, future participation and services”. This could amount to equity worth in the region of £20 million each for the superstars.

‘The only way to move forward is for PIF to be involved’

The deal with SSG was passed “unaminously” through a vote of the Tour’s policy board, which boasts six pros include Tiger Woods and Jordan Spieth. Woods spoke on the conference call to the players thanking the Strategic Sports Group – a group of  US-based sports owners spearheaded by Fenway Sports – “for believing in our sport and in the potential growth we can enjoy together”.

The mood was thus celebratory in Sawgrass HQ, but it was far too early to hail peace in our time. As Scot Bob MacIntyre, a new member on the United States circuit, put it: “The only way to move the game forward is for PIF to be involved.”

No doubt, as Jay Monahan, the Tour commissioner and CEO of this new commercial entity, said “today marks an important moment for the PGA Tour and fans across the world”.  But this is not nearly the end of the civil war that has engulfed the pro fairways for the last two years. And it might actually herald the opening of a yet more destructive battlefront.

The ball is definitely in the Saudis’ court, with the Tour stating that “the transaction announced on Wednesday allows for a co-investment from PIF in the future, subject to all necessary regulatory approvals”.

And although that is exactly where Yasir Al-Rummayan, the PIF governor who is also the chairman of LIV Golf and Newcastle United, always wanted the ball, this is by no means a done deal.

LIV spent more than £500 million in close-season signings with Jon Rahm, the world No 3, the standout acquisition alongside Ryder Cup partner Tyrrell Hatton, And while this might have been a show of financial might, Al-Rumayyan is clearly intent on not ditching his baby yet.

If PIF does decide to join SSG as minority investors in the new company that is valued at £9.5 billion, the resulting investigations by the US Depart of Justice and the Senate could take up to a year to complete. That would mean a revolutionary golf calendar not being installed until 2026 at the earliest. That gives LIV, at worst, two more seasons, and depending on the details of any deal, could see more eye-catching captures.

The longer LIV survives, the more present the danger and Al-Rumayyan could conceivably turn down the Tour and SSG and go to the DP World Tour. Wentworth HQ would then have a quandary: either remain in its alliance with the PGA Tour or side with PIF and allow the likes of Rahm and Co to play in their events.

With the absence of world ranking points on LIV, this would make the league more tempting to the heavyweights and sort out the Ryder Cup problem. There would suddenly be no concerns regarding the future eligibility of Rahm and the rest of the rebels.

Any of this could come to pass, but for the moment there is optimism that PIF will honour “the framework agreement” – no matter how loose that now seems in light of SSG’s arrival – signed last year.

Monahan confirmed that he recently met with Al-Rumayyan and sources within the DP World Tour insist the talks are “progressing very nicely”.

Furthermore, Al-Rumayyan knows Fenway Sports, which also owns the Boston Red Sox, through the English Premier League and also might see the value in linking up with the other investors in SSG – owners of high-profile sports franchises in America such as the New York Mets, the Atlanta Falcons and the Boston Celtics.

SSG has said it would welcome working with PIF and Al-Rumayyan would be established as a big player in US sport. An influential seat at the top table could have been the Saudi masterplan from the start.

But what to do with LIV? And how will the DP World Tour benefit and, oh yes, the fanbase too – that section which has largely been forgotten as the players have become richer while the product became poorer? The SSG deal is merely the first answer. So many more remain to be found.