Jay Monahan offers hint about bringing back LIV Golf stars

PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan suggested LIV golfers could soon return to the fold as part of one unified circuit when a deal is completed between the warring factions.

Monahan said a recent meeting with President Donald Trump has helped move a deal “one step” closer with the Saudi Arabian backers of the breakaway LIV league.

The commissioner and Adam Scott, a PGA Tour board member, met with Trump last week at the White House to discuss the protracted negotiations, which have taken more than 18 months.

It has long been thought that Trump’s relations with Saudi Arabia and his ability to help get the green light from the US Department of Justice – which is scrutinising the deal over anti-competition concerns – could prove decisive in reunification.

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But what exactly that looks like on the golf course has been desperately unclear. LIV players were indefinitely banned from the PGA Tour as soon as they jumped ship and the two tours have been operating independently ever since the fledgling league’s launch in 2022.

However, a split talent pool has damaged interest in the sport and it is surely vital for the game’s best players to reunite again on the fairways on a much more regular basis.

“Candidly, that’s what fans want,” Monahan told reporters ahead of this week’s $20million Genesis Invitational at Torrey Pines. “So when you talk about reunification, that’s all the best players in the world competing with each other and against each other.”

“Listen, if you think about what the fans want, the fans want reunification. That’s what we’re focused on.  We’ve operated in a world where there’s more than one and the PGA Tour has performed very well.

“But in the long run, is that the best thing for fans? Is that the best thing for the game? We’re trying to solve it so everybody benefits.”

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Asked directly if that meant LIV players returning to the PGA Tour, Monahan added:  “I think if you solve things… if we respond to what our fans are telling us, we put together the best, the strongest possible schedule and product, to me all that will resolve itself.”

In the interests of the game, Rory McIlroy is certainly on board with big names LIV players returning to the US circuit they are currently blacklisted from.

“If people are butt-hurt or have their feelings hurt because guys went or whatever, like who cares?” McIlroy said. “Let’s move forward together and let’s just try to get this thing going again and do what’s best for the game.

“There are guys that were on the PGA Tour that went to play on LIV and if they still have status, sure, come back, come back and play.

“Having Bryson DeChambeau come back and play on this tour is good.”

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.