Donald Trump makes huge claim about PGA Tour-LIV deal

On the eve of the US election, Donald Trump has insisted he could strike a deal between golf’s warring factions “within 15 minutes” if he returns to the White House.

The former President, 78, has weighed in on the outcome of golf’s civil war, which many feel could be impacted by the next incumbent in the Oval Office.

While talks are ongoing and sources at the PGA Tour insist that progress is being made, a truce appears to be being held up by the US Department of Justice (DOJ), which will investigate a deal between Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) and the American circuit on the basis of anti-competition.

Whether or not the DOJ gives the green light to a deal between Sawgrass HQ and Saudi’s sovereign wealth fund could be determined by who becomes the 47th President.

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A deal has been mooted ever since a televised ‘framework agreement’ handshake between PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan in June 2023.

And Trump, the golf fanatic who has staged five breakaway LIV Golf events funded by the PIF on his courses, has now given his take on the divide. The 78-year-old did not explain how he would make a deal happen, but says he is confident of reaching an agreement should he defeat Kamala Harris in the Presidency race.

“Well, I’m going to really work on other things, to be honest with you. I think we have much bigger problems than that,” Trump said on the ‘Let’s Go!’ podcast.

“But I do think we should have one tour, and they should have the best players in that tour – meaning you have many tours, but your primary tour… Because when Scotty wins or when they win on the other tour, we have a lot of… there’s a lot of great players. I mean, beyond great. It’s really top, top players on LIV.

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“It would be nice if they could all play together. It’s terrible when somebody’s shut out of a major. It’s terrible. But they’re very happy with Saudi. They’re over there and they’re very happy about it. They really are. It’s amazing.

“If you speak to them, they’re happy with their decisions. They made more money than they probably could ever have made. They got checks from, in some cases, hundreds of millions of dollars. So it’s hard to say, gee, ‘I’m going to be happy because I can’t play in a certain location’. That’s not that important.

“But I think it’ll come together. Yeah, I could certainly help, but I could probably get it done. I would say it would take me the better part of 15 minutes to get that deal done.”

Ben Parsons joined bunkered as a Content Producer in 2023 and is the man to come to for all of the latest news, across both the professional and amateur games. Formerly of The Mirror and Press Association, he is a member at Halifax Golf Club and is a long-suffering fan of both Manchester United and the Wales rugby team.