LIV Golf ‘in talks’ over shock deal with DP World Tour

In the latest twist in the modern soap opera of men’s professional golf, LIV Golf are now said to have entered talks over an entirely new deal with the DP World Tour.

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) – the backers of LIV – have been locked in protracted negotiations with the PGA and DP World Tours for 18 months in a bid to end the division in the sport.

That deal, which had an initial deadline of December 2023, appears to have reached a stalemate.

And, according to a new report in Bloomberg, the breakaway league’s benefactors are now in discussions with the formerly known European Tour, which are separate to the proposed deal with the PGA Tour.

Bloomberg have cited inside sources that claim both entities would work together, cementing LIV’s position in the calendar and giving the DP World Tour ‘significant financial heft.’

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It is understood that a deal is a long way off yet, with the PIF still hoping of acquiring a minority stake in PGA Tour Enterprises, a for-profit company that built to control the commercial assets of the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour.

The DP World Tour also chose not to directly address the rumours.

“We remain in discussions with the PGA Tour, PGA Tour Enterprises, SSG and PIF relating to the ongoing overall picture for men’s global golf, but no agreements have been reached,” a spokesperson for the European-based circuit said.

It has, however, long been mooted by some industry that, with talks stalling, the DP World Tour could ditch their alliance with the PGA Tour and team up with the Saudis instead.

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“LIV and the DP World Tour are the genuine worldwide tours now,” Laurie Canter, an ex-LIV player, told bunkered.co.uk in a recent interview.

“With LIV and the DP World Tour, it feels like there should be a natural synergy. There might be a different guise in the tours but, fundamentally, the markets they’re going after are similar. Some of the things LIV requires and needs, the European Tour has in spades. LIV has access to players and a world-class investor behind them. If you got those two things together, it would be exciting.”

However, many are also realistic about the danger of alienating the PGA Tour.

“Without some PGA Tour collaboration or understanding… I don’t know what solves – those two entities trying to win on their own,” Canter added. “I would be in the camp that all the tours need to work together.”

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.