NEW YORK (Reuters) – PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan credited U.S. President Donald Trump with significantly bolstering progress in talks to unify the U.S.-based circuit and the Saudi-backed breakaway LIV Golf tour on Tuesday.
Trump held a working session at the White House last month with representatives from the PGA Tour and LIV Golf amid efforts to resolve a dispute that engulfed the sport since the breakaway Saudi tour was founded four years ago.
“The talks are real, they’re substantial, and they’re being driven at the top levels of both organisations,” PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan told reporters at the Players Championship on Tuesday.
“Those talks have been significantly bolstered by President Trump’s willingness to serve as a facilitator. President Trump is a lifelong golf fan. He believes strongly in the game’s power and potential, and he has been exceedingly generous with his time and influence to help bring a deal together.
“He wants to see the game reunified. We want to see the game reunified. His involvement has made the prospect of reunification very real.”
The deep-pocketed LIV Golf, which has held tournaments at Trump properties in the past, has drawn some of the sport’s top talent since launching, with players from each side pulled into a bitter rift.
PGA and LIV golfers do not compete against one another outside of the majors and last year’s Paris Olympics.
The PGA and LIV stunned the sports world with a shock merger announcement in 2023 but the two sides have not finalised a framework.
Twice major winner Justin Thomas, who competes on the PGA Tour, told reporters on Tuesday that players were “past the level of exhaustion” on the issue.
“This is like the third time I’ve played this tournament while this has been going on in some way, shape or form,” he said at a press conference ahead of the Players Championship at Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.
“There’s just so many of us, really on both sides, both us on tour and I think the LIV players, that we don’t really know what’s going on and we’re just playing golf and hoping for the best.”
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York; Editing by Toby Davis)
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