December 31st, 2023, was the expected date when the PGA Tour was supposed to finalize the $3 billion merger with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF). Well, at least that’s what the Jay Monahan-led league announced in early June. But the infamous merger in the men’s golf has been as eluding as Rory McIlroy winning a major. More than eight months have passed since the finalization date, but there has been no update or progress in sight.
On the other hand, the PIF has started working with the Asian Tour. In February 2022, it invested $300 million into the Asian Tour and started the International Series, which had relatively better prize purses, usually in the range of $1-2 million. Now the news comes, that while the PGA Tour waits out and looks at the legalities of partnering with PIF for an influx of $3 billion, the PIF will reportedly put more money into the Asian Tour’s International Series for the 2025 season and the Asian Tour may hold events in USA as well.
GolfWRX writer Matt Vincenzi shared that because of the supposed investment, the Asian Tour will have events with purses as much as $10 million. Conversely, the PGA Tour has regular events with prize purses between $4-8 million, and the developmental league, the Korn Ferry Tour, has an average of $1 million in prize money at its various events. If the PGA Tour had finalized the merger with PIF, it would not be wrong to assume that the regular events would have seen an increase in prize purse.
Just wait until @asiantourgolf announces events in the 🇺🇸 too when average PGAT events have $4-8m purses and KFT averages $1m. 😮
Leverage not legacy. 😎
But no no, let’s not take that $3b investment and wait this out! 🤡🤦🏽♂️ https://t.co/trw6cyQw8S— Pro Golf Critic (@ProGolfCritic) September 2, 2024
But now, the PIF will be charging the Asian Tour up to compete against the PGA Tour or the Korn Ferry Tour, with better investment to back it up. Since the PGA Tour and PIF delay has been way too long, where exactly does it stand now?
What’s the latest update about the PGA Tour and PIF merger?
Along with Adam Scott and Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy was made a part of the PGA Tour Enterprise’s Transaction Subcommittee. This committee has been responsible for being in direct contact with PIF’s Yasir Al-Rumayyan and other representatives to move forward with the investment that the PIF is willing to make in the PGA Tour. But unfortunately, the progress has been near zero.
Two months back, Jay Monahan addressed the press and revealed that there had been a few meetings with the committee and PIF, but it needed more work. He said, “During that meeting, we reached consensus on several items, but both parties recognize there is still work to do to reach a final agreement.” As of last week, McIlroy gave further insight into what’s happening behind the scenes, and it was not promising.
The Northern Irishman said in an interview with Golf.com that he expected more progress in the $3 billion, but it was not the case. McIlroy disappointingly said, “I wish more would have been done, but there doesn’t seem to be a lot of willingness from some people to try to fix it.” Was McIlroy hinting at the hesitation from the PGA Tour’s side? It surely looked as if he was and whatever might be the reason for the delay, the PGA Tour and PIF merger is not going to happen anytime soon. However, Monahan may announce the deal as surprisingly as he first did it in 2023 and sent shockwaves into the golf world. What do you think will be the future if this merger? Let us know in the comments below.
