Golf’s long civil war is going to last at least a little longer. Following a meeting on Thursday with President Trump, PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan and player representatives Tiger Woods released yet another statement that offered yet another commitment to reunite golf, while yet again giving no timetable for the game’s reunion.
“We have just concluded a constructive working session at the White House with President Trump and H.E. Yasir Al-Rumayyan,” the statement read. “Thanks to the leadership of President Trump, we have initiated a discussion about the reunification of golf. We are committed to moving as quickly as possible and will share additional details as appropriate.”
The statement, signed by Monahan, Woods and Scott, concluded, “We share a passion for the game and the importance of reunification. Most importantly, we all want the best players in the world playing together more often and are committed to doing all we can to deliver that outcome for our fans.”
Monahan and Al-Rumayyan, governor of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, represent the two divided factions of men’s golf, with the PGA Tour and LIV Golf at odds with one another, and also promising agreement, for years now.
Golf’s schism dates back more than three years, when LIV broke away from the Tour and took several of the game’s most prominent names, including Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka. LIV players later filed suit against the Tour, adding to the bad blood between the two warring camps. The result has been a fractured golf world, where the sport’s best players meet regularly only four times a year and at other occasional events. When Jon Rahm, one of the Tour’s brightest stars, jumped to LIV, and when DeChambeau transformed himself into a social media darling, the pain of the split for golf fans became that much more acute.
In June 2023, the two sides struck a surprise “framework agreement” that seemed to indicate peace was at hand. As part of that agreement, all litigation between the two parties was dropped. However, after the two sides missed self-imposed deadlines and spent nearly two years negotiating, hopes for a resolution to the split had faded in recent months.
Trump’s return to the White House seemed to signal a possible end to the cold war, given that his Justice Department would look more favorably on an agreement between the two entities, and also given his substantial business and personal connections in the golf world. Prior to Thursday, Trump had met separately with Woods, Monahan and al-Rumayyan, and that was enough to get Woods cautiously optimistic for an agreement.
“I think things are going to heal quickly,” Woods said on CBS on Sunday during the broadcast of the Genesis Invitational. “We’re going to get this game going in the right direction. It’s been heading in the wrong direction for a number of years, and the fans want all of us to play together, all the top players playing together, and we’re going to make that happen.” Woods suggested that a deal could be reached “very soon.”
Initial reports on Thursday hinted that a deal was imminent, with one rumor even suggesting that LIV players could return to the PGA Tour as soon as next month’s Players Championship. While that timeline seems highly aggressive, to say the least, some form of reconciliation could still happen in the near future. But, as always, golf fans must simply sit and wait to see when, or if, that moment comes about.
