Getty Image
It’s been close to a year since the PGA Tour made a fairly shocking announcement concerning a plan to accept an investment from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and merge with LIV Golf.
However, there hasn’t been any major progress on that front in the wake of the news, and it seems like the deal could be dead in the water after Jimmy Dunne, the investment banker who was instrumental in the proposal coming together, suddenly resigned from the PGA Tour policy board.
The PGA Tour policy board has recently been making its fair share of headlines thanks to the drama surrounding Rory McIlroy, who was expected to rejoin it after resigning toward the end of last year only to have his return thwarted by a bloc of opponents that reportedly included Patrick Cantlay, Tiger Woods, and Jordan Spieth.
It appears the biggest sticking point was McIlroy’s insistence that the PGA Tour would benefit from an investment from the PIF, which has become a lightning rod of controversy thanks to Saudi Arabia’s questionable human rights record (the argument for bringing it into the fold has also been complicated by the $3 billion infusion the PGA Tour received from the collective known as Strategic Sports Group).
The deadline for the PIF deal was initially set for the end of 2023 before PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan announced it had been extended into 2024. It was initially believed the two sides were hoping to come to an agreement prior to The Masters, but the tournament came and went without any notable developments.
However, according to ESPN, we were treated to one on Monday night when Jimmy Dunne announced his decision to resign from the PGA Tour board in a letter where he said that “no meaningful progress has been made towards a transaction with PIF” and that “my vote and my role is utterly superfluous.”
As I alluded to above, Dunne secretly worked alongside Monahan and board chairman Ed Herlihy while orchestrating the negotiations that led to the PGA Tour announcing the proposed merger last June.
Monahan reacted to Dunne’s decision by thanking him for his contributions before noting “We continue to make meaningful progress behind the scenes in our negotiations toward a potential agreement with the PIF.” However, based on what the former member had to say about the current state of affairs, you’re probably not going to want to hold your breath.