Trump thinks he can fix golf's mess. He starts by playing golf with PGA Tour commissioner
Former President Donald Trump, left, talks with Yasir Al-Rumayyan, governor of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, on the 16th hole during the first round of the Bedminster Invitational LIV Golf tournament in Bedminster, NJ., July 29, 2022. Credit: AP/Seth Wenig
President-elect Donald Trump boasted during the campaign he would need about 15 minutes to get a deal done between the PGA Tour and the Saudi investors of LIV Golf. That started with four hours on the golf course with PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan.
The Washington Post reported Monahan accepted an invitation from Trump to play golf last Friday at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida.
The PGA Tour confirmed the outing in a statement.
“President-Elect Trump has always been a champion of the game of golf and Commissioner Monahan was honored to accept his invitation to play at Trump International," the statement said. "The President-Elect and the Commissioner share a love for the game and the Commissioner enjoyed their time together.”
The next day, Trump attended a UFC heavyweight championship in New York with Elon Musk and Yasir al-Rumayyan, the governor of Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, the financial support of the rival LIV tour that has caused the massive rift in the game.
Monahan and al-Rumayyan played golf together in the Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland last month on the European tour.
The tour has not disclosed the nature of those discussions, and Monahan has not shared details even with key players to keep negotiations private.
Commissioner of the PGA Tour, Jay Monahan IV speaks during a news conference ahead of the Tour Championship golf tournament, Aug. 28, 2024, in Atlanta. Credit: AP/Mike Stewart
The PGA Tour and PIF announced an agreement on June 6, 2023, for the Saudi sovereign wealth fund to become an investor in a new commercial venture by the PGA Tour. That quickly got the attention of the Justice Department, and while the agreement called for a Dec. 31 deadline, negotiations are still taking place.
The PGA Tour struck a deal with a consortium of sports owners, Strategic Sports Group, for an initial $1.5 billion investment in PGA Tour Enterprises that could grow to $3 billion.
Meanwhile, golf remains deeply divided as the PGA Tour has banned LIV players — U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka and Jon Rahm among them — from competing in its tournaments.
All of golf's best players meet only four times a year in the majors.
Yasir Al-Rumayyan attends the champion's ceremony at the LIV Golf Invitational-Chicago tournament Sunday, Sept. 18, 2022, in Sugar Hill, Ill. Credit: AP/Charles Rex Arbogast
Trump joined the “Let's Go!" podcast with Jim Gray and Bill Belichick on the eve of the election and said, “it would take me the better part of 15 minutes to get that deal done.”
“I'm really going to work on other things, to be honest with you,” Trump said on the podcast. "I think we have much bigger problems than that. But I do think we should have one tour and they should have the best players in that tour.”
Trump's golf courses hosted two LIV events in the inaugural 2022 season, three events in 2023 and one event this year. None of the Trump courses — in Miami, New Jersey and the Washington area — is on the 2025 schedule, which still has not been completed.
Trump was bullish about LIV Golf when it started and predicted a merger was inevitable. He warned PGA Tour players on the Truth Social media platform in July 2022, “If you don't take the money now, you will get nothing after the merger takes place, and only say how smart the original signees were.”
Trump also has had his fights with the PGA Tour before he was elected the first time, most notably when the tour took a World Golf Championships event from his Trump Doral in 2016 to Mexico City because the tournament couldn't find a sponsor.
Among issues to be sorted out beyond any investment by PIF is how to bring together players who stayed loyal to the PGA Tour by not taking massive signing bonuses from the Saudi league and those who defected to the rival league.
How the Justice Department views any deal is another obstacle in the negotiations.
Rory McIlroy said after the election that having Trump in office couldn't hurt the completion of any deal.
“He might be able to,” McIlroy said Nov. 6, the day after the election. “He’s got Elon Musk, who I think is the smartest man in the world, beside him. We might be able to do something if we can get Musk involved, too.”
McIlroy is just not sure about a 15-minute solution.
“I think from the outside looking in, it’s probably a little less complicated than it actually is," said McIlroy, who serves on a transaction committee involved in the deal. “But obviously Trump has great relationship with Saudi Arabia. He’s got a great relationship with golf. He’s a lover of golf. So, maybe. Who knows?”
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This version corrects to $1.5 billion investment instead of $1.5 million.
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