{"id":437027,"date":"2026-01-29T14:51:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T14:51:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/437027\/"},"modified":"2026-01-29T14:51:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T14:51:08","slug":"liv-golf-is-now-paying-for-its-failure-to-compromise-with-pga-tour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/437027\/","title":{"rendered":"LIV Golf Is Now Paying for Its Failure to Compromise With PGA Tour"},"content":{"rendered":"

SAN DIEGO \u2014 Adam Scott had yet to get the memo. He was on the Torrey Pines North course Wednesday morning when the word came that Patrick Reed was leaving the LIV Golf League<\/a> and will likely play on the PGA Tour later this year.<\/p>\n

Scott, the popular Australian golfer who won the 2013 Masters and is a member of the PGA Tour Policy Board and PGA Tour Enterprises Board, might not have known all the particulars as he prepared for the Farmers Insurance Open. But he was well aware of the process to bring players such as Brooks Koepka\u00a0and now Reed back.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard having a crystal ball to look ahead and know how things play out in fairness to the Tour, they had a pathway back for guys, and Patrick might be the first,\u201d Scott said after his pro-am round. \u201cThe first to get back through that. The other one [for Koepka and major champions dating to 2022] was created. The small group of people.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen I guess it possibly continues to happen, just with the way the LIV tour is structured. Contracts will end. So I feel good as part of the Tour that we had a policy in place that\u2019s now getting used. Hopefully it worked well.\u201d<\/p>\n

How far back that policy goes is not known, but it clearly wasn\u2019t hatched in recent days, even if Reed\u2019s decision to leave LIV Golf came up quickly.<\/p>\n

Scott suggested that the Tour long ago had a plan if and when LIV players wanted to leave and return to the Tour. In fact, that plan was likely in place as long as a year ago, when there was optimism that an upcoming deal between the PGA Tour and the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia\u2014which backs LIV Golf\u2014would bring the sides together.<\/p>\n

It was at Torrey Pines on Feb. 12 of last year\u2014during the week of the relocated Genesis Invitational\u2014that PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan spoke optimistically about a deal getting done<\/a>, one that started with the infamous \u201cframework agreement\u201d that was announced on June 6, 2023.<\/p>\n

The idea was for the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and LIV Golf to have an alliance. LIV Golf CEO Scott O\u2019Neil last year suggested the PIF would \u201clikely\u201d making a \u201csignificant investment in PGA Tour Enterprises.\u201d<\/p>\n

Monahan described the situation as a \u201creunification of the game, which is what we have been and are focused on. Candidly, that\u2019s what fans want. So when you talk about reunification, that\u2019s all the best players in the world competing with each other and against each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Jay<\/p>\n

Monahan and Al-Rumayyan, shown here at the 2024 Dunhill Links, once seemed on track to complete a deal together. | Richard Heathcote\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

But something went awry. Talks at the White House that involved President Trump and Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of the PIF, did not result in an agreement. And there\u2019s been very little discussion since.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been difficult from the outside to figure out what exactly went wrong. Scott, who was there, only speaks in generalities.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s fairly intricate,\u201d Scott said. \u201cIt was an intricate deal that was trying to be put together. The PGA Tour didn’t want to compromise their product. They [LIV] probably didn\u2019t want to compromise theirs, and had a clear vision for what they wanted.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I also think the time it took to get to that point, probably played a fact that people were making changes to their product. Could have been done, maybe, initially [if] they\u00a0were less down a path, and now they were three years down a path. It\u2019s harder to move and I think and that\u2019s where it got to, and with respect to both parties, I think it was more of a well, there\u2019s no point continuing on at the moment.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust purely from a playing side of things, to have the players feel like they\u2019re on a level playing field and fair competition. The two systems don’t marry.\u201d<\/p>\n

How the PGA Tour and LIV Golf negotiations fell apart<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a good bit to unpack there, and a good bit of speculation required to uncover the differences.<\/p>\n

Among the issues were LIV Golf\u2019s 14-event schedule and team competition. There is plenty of conjecture that the PGA Tour wanted LIV\u2019s schedule reduced and that LIV was unwilling to budge. A team aspect was also a sticking point.<\/p>\n

Throw in reported LIV losses that were estimated in the billions and the PGA Tour Enterprises\u2019 need to earn a profit, and you\u2019ve got plenty of obstacles beyond the competitive issues.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s fair to wonder if LIV Golf made a mistake in not pushing to finalize a deal. A decision on Official World Golf Ranking points looms<\/a> which would obviously be a big help, regardless of Koepka and Reed\u2019s departures. And the league continues to talk positively about its future, with new sponsorship deals recently announced.<\/p>\n

But losing two major champions in Koepka and Reed is a blow. And even though Reed comes back to the PGA Tour with some baggage\u2014his lawsuits undoubtedly are part of the reason he won\u2019t return sooner\u2014the sentiment seems to be that this is a good thing for the Tour.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a lot of faith in [CEO] Brian Rolapp and the Tour, the board … that they\u2019re going to do the right thing,\u201d said Keegan Bradley. \u201cI think you have to capitalize on when great players want to come back … Patrick played LIV and did what he wanted and I can\u2019t get in the heads of the guys who are doing that.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I am certainly welcoming everyone back who wants to come back. I have no hard feelings, I have no issues with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Scott, it is what he believes is the natural progression of things.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt seems like the golf fans [were] not getting what they want,\u201d Scott said. \u201cWhich, my personal opinion, that\u2019s a little bit harsh, but I understand what they\u2019re saying, and hopefully, certainly with Brooks, you know, returning, Patrick might return soon.<\/p>\n

\u201cBrooks is an incredible player, and Patrick\u2019s a major champion also, and a feisty competitor. Yeah. So, I think that\u2019s good for the Tour and more guys in that one spot. So hopefully the fans appreciate that.\u201d<\/p>\n

More Golf from Sports Illustrated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN DIEGO \u2014 Adam Scott had yet to get the memo. He was on the Torrey Pines North…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":437028,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[427,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-437027","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-golf","9":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437027","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=437027"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437027\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/437028"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=437027"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=437027"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=437027"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}