Jay Monahan’s changed tone surrounding LIV Golf deal shows PGA Tour holds the power

PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan delivered his ‘State of the Tour’ at The Players, and his tone indicates that his side has the leverage.

The tides have begun to shift between the PGA Tour and the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), LIV Golf’s beneficiary.

On Tuesday, ahead of this week’s Players Championship, Commissioner Jay Monahan addressed the state of negotiations.

But his tone significantly differed from when he spoke a month ago in San Diego. At Torrey Pines, Monahan sounded confident, insinuating that a deal between the tour and the PIF was imminent. Tiger Woods echoed that same sentiment during the final round broadcast on CBS a few days later.

So what changed?

On Feb. 20, Monahan, joined by Tiger Woods and Adam Scott, met Yasir al-Rumayyan, the Governor of the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), at the White House for a summit with President Donald Trump. That meeting marked the second time tour representatives visited Trump within a two-week span and it proved to be a pivotal turning point. Something happened during that visit, and while exact specifics are unknown, Golf Digest’s Joel Beall labeled this ordeal as a “stupid game of chicken.”

“After all signs pointed to a finalized agreement, both factions have retreated to their respective corners, meticulously crafting their next strategic maneuvers while simultaneously attempting to decode their adversary’s intentions,” Beall wrote.

“This remains undeniable: Negotiations have hit a significant impasse.”

Rory McIlroy, ahead of last week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational, all but confirmed this.

“I don’t think the PGA Tour needs a deal. I think the momentum is pretty strong,” McIlroy said last week.

“The landscape might have looked a little different then than it does now over these past couple of weeks, and I think a deal would still be the — I think it would still be the ideal scenario for golf as a whole. But from a pure PGA Tour perspective, I don’t think it necessarily needs it.”

The PGA Tour, with its $1.5 billion investment from the Strategic Sports Group (SSG), has never been in a stronger position as of March 2025. The tour has also shepherded in new sponsorship deals while extending existing ones. Plus, the PGA Tour has seen an uptick in television ratings in 2025. There are also plans for the PGA Tour to integrate more viewing options for golf fans going forward, whether it be its World Feed, which debuts this week, or its betting streams, which returns to ESPN+ for the second time at TPC Sawgrass.

On the flip side, the PIF has already poured $5 billion into LIV Golf, a league that now features only a handful of players that would enhance the PGA Tour’s product if they came back. LIV viewership also continues to struggle. However, one could say that the PIF has already achieved its goal with LIV Golf: the circuit has given them direct access to the White House, giving the Saudi Kingdom untethered diplomatic negotiations with the United States. The PIF also has a seat at the table with the PGA Tour, an entity it sees as a potential investment partner as the Saudis look to further diversify their economy.

“When you’re in the midst of complex negotiations, particularly when you may be near a breakthrough, there are ebbs and flows in the discussion,” Monahan said Tuesday.

“The most important thing is the mutual respect we’ve built over the last couple of years.”

The ‘ebbs and flows in the discussion’ signals that talks have broken down somewhat, yet Monahan continued to signal that his side holds the power.

“We appreciate Yasir’s innovative vision, and we can see a future where we welcome him to our board and work together to move the global game forward. As part of our negotiations, we believe there’s room to integrate important aspects of LIV Golf into the PGA Tour platform. We’re doing everything we can to bring the two sides together,” Monahan said.

“That said, we will not do so in a way that diminishes the strength of our platform or the very real momentum we have with our fans and our partners. So while we’ve removed some hurdles, others remain. But like our fans, we still share the same sense of urgency to get to a resolution. Our team is fully committed to reunification. The only deal that we would regret is one that compromises the essence of what makes the game of golf and the PGA Tour so exceptional.”

Monahan would not make those comments unless he held the cards. He sees LIV Golf becoming a part of the PGA Tour umbrella, with al-Rumayyan joining the PGA Tour board and ‘integrating important aspects of LIV Golf’ into the tour’s platform. Notice how it’s not the other way around, proving that the tour has the upper hand.

Monahan did not delve into any specifics about team golf, scheduling, and reunification, limiting his aspirations to a simple “reunification.”

However, throughout his 55-minute session in the media room at TPC Sawgrass, Monahan reiterated how he will not accept a deal that “diminishes the strength” of the PGA Tour. He would only say that publicly if he had leverage in these discussions.

“I think what our fans are telling us is that they want to see the best players in the world playing together more often and that’s what really is the focus of the conversations,” Monahan added.

“I’ve shared all I’m going to share as it relates to where we are, but hopefully through my commentary you understand and our fans understand that our interest in doing so is very real, but our interest at the same time is very real in making certain that we’re evolving, we’re innovating, we’re investing back in the experience that they expect of us and continue to improve on that front.”

This is all to say that a deal may not happen altogether. The two sides remain nowhere close — a stark departure from the aura in the media center at Torrey Pines a mere weeks ago.

At any rate, Monahan’s address in Ponta Vedra Beach showed that his side has the power. With or without the PIF, the PGA Tour will continue into the future but the game may still take a hit due to its splintered state. Fans want to see the game back together, with the likes of Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Cameron Smith, and Tyrrell Hatton playing alongside PGA Tour stars once again. Monahan and yes, even the President, want to see that happen too. But all Monahan can focus on now is the PGA Tour, which currently has the greater influence in these discussions.

Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Follow him on X @jack_milko.