The PGA Tour confirmed that commissioner Jay Monahan and Adam Scott met with President Donald Trump Tuesday to discuss “the future of men’s professional golf.”
In a statement released Thursday from Monahan, Scott and Tiger Woods, who are both player directors on the PGA Tour Enterprises board of directors, the Tour met with Trump to discuss the circuit’s ongoing negotiations with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which owns LIV Golf.
“We know golf fans are eagerly anticipating a resolution to negotiations with the Public Investment Fund and want to thank President Trump for his interest and long-time support of the game of golf,” the Tour statement read. “We asked the President to get involved for the good of the game, the good of the country, and for all the countries involved. We are grateful that his leadership has brought us closer to a final deal, paving the way for reunification of men’s professional golf.”
In June 2023, the Tour and PIF announced a “framework” agreement that ended months of legal wrangling and an expanding gulf in the professional game. Since that announcement, however, the anticipated final agreement that would reunite the professional game has not been reached.
Although the Tour’s statement doesn’t specify how Trump’s involvement could expediate the negotiations, the Department of Justice’s antitrust division has an ongoing investigation into the potential deal.
A source with knowledge of the investigation told CNBC in 2023 the DOJ investigation predates the “framework” agreement and that it is not unusual for U.S. antitrust authorities to review a transaction of this profile. The source added that a review does not suggest the transaction violates antitrust laws.
According to various sources, Woods had also planned to attend the meeting with Trump but had to return to south Florida to be with his mother, Kultida, who died Tuesday morning.
