Jordan Spieth confirmed players are being encouraged to meet with the Public Investment Fund after Golfweek reported this could happen as early as Monday.
Spieth, a player director on the PGA Tour Policy Board, was asked to comment on the report that said a group of player directors have been urged to meet with PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan at a private residence in Ponte Vedra, Florida just days after The Players Championship finishes.
The report said a meeting could act as “an informal ice-breaker” to build momentum towards an agreement between the PGA Tour and the PIF, the Saudi sovereign wealth fund that bankrolls LIV Golf which has emerged as the tour’s rival league in the last two years.
“We are being encouraged to potentially meet with them at some point,” Spieth said after the second round of the PGA Tour’s flagship event at TPC Sawgrass.
“I’m not sure that I can say much more other than we’re being encouraged to potentially meet with them, but at the same time we probably feel like our membership should know timing and what could happen and just in general maybe it’s just a meet.
“I think there’s not a whole lot more I can say about that, but we are being encouraged obviously which I think is probably a good thing that the entire board should if there’s going to be any potential for a negotiation.”
Jordan Spieth: PGA Tour Policy board player director confirms earlier report
On Tuesday, the tour’s commissioner Jay Monahan said that talks with the PIF were “accelerating” and that he met with Al-Rumayyan in January in a bid to advance negotiations to the point of completion.
“While we have several key issues that we still need to work through, we have a shared vision to quiet the noise and unlock golf’s worldwide potential.
Advertisement
“It’s going to take time, but I reiterate what I said at the Tour Championship in August. I see a positive outcome for the PGA Tour and the sport as a whole.”
The golf world was rocked on June 6, 2023 when the PGA Tour announced a framework agreement with the PIF after many months of hostility in the courtroom and out of it.
But the original December 31 deadline for a pencilled deal was missed and with the DP World Tour also involved in this newfound alliance, it is unclear if a formal compromise will be reached by the time Keith Pelley leaves his post as DP World Tour to be replaced by Guy Kinnings at the start of April.
In the meantime, LIV Golf has continued to lure a host of PGA Tour and DP World Tour stars with lucrative contract offers such as Jon Rahm, Tyrrell Hatton and Adrian Meronk.
Adam Scott, a former Masters champion and fellow player director, addressed the thought of meeting with PIF representatives before the third round of The Players Championship.
“Ultimately the players are some of the vote going into whether a deal will happen or not, just like it was with SSG,” he said.
“With the seriousness of what we’re voting on, I think it is important that we’ve all met no matter what anyone’s feelings are.
“If the PIF thinks it’s beneficial that we meet … as far as getting on with business, yeah, let’s get on with it,” he added. “I would like to resolve this no matter what the outcome is. And we can all move on.”
Scott, Spieth, Patrick Cantlay, Tiger Woods, Webb Simpson and Peter Malnati make up the six-strong player director team on the PGA Tour Policy Board.
After shooting 66 in round two, Malnati revealed that he knew nothing about a prospective meeting on Monday.
“I don’t even think our membership knows anything about a meeting on Monday yet. I don’t know the details of it. Yeah, I just, I think, when I do know details, I would rather tell our membership first.
“I think at this point I probably should have more details because, yeah, there may be a meeting, but I don’t even know, I don’t know where it is or how I’m getting there. I would like to know that information, and I would like to then tell the membership about it before I talk about it.”
NOW READ: Rory, Spieth, and Hovland face off in rules spat at The Players
NOW READ: A weight has been lifted! Fitzpatrick solves driver woes in bizarre fashion
What do you make of this PGA Tour-PIF meeting report? Tell us on X!
Advertisement
