What PGA Tour players should learn from Saudi PIF

Earlier this week Rory McIlroy said he wanted “the train to speed up so we can get this thing over and done with” in reference to the ongoing discussions between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.

Choo choo.

Patrick Cantlay confirmed a Golfweek report that a group of PGA Tour players are planning to meet with Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the head of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, on Monday in an effort to continue towards a deal that would seemingly reunite men’s professional golf. The original report stated the meeting was tentatively scheduled at a private residence in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, following the conclusion of the Players Championship at nearby TPC Sawgrass.

After finishing T-19 at the Players, McIlroy said he was glad that players would finally be meeting with Al-Rumayyan, including Tiger Woods.

“I mean, he’s a player director. He’s on the board, so absolutely he needs to be involved,” McIlroy said.

McIlroy wants players to understand that Al-Rumayyan “wants to do the right thing” with his investment in golf and that he wants to be involved “in a productive way.”

“I think I’ve said this before, I have spent time with Yasir and his. … the people that have represented him in LIV I think have done him a disservice, so Norman and those guys,” McIlroy said of his perception of the difference between the PIF and LIV. “I see the two entities, and I think there’s a big, I actually think there’s a really big disconnect between PIF and LIV. I think you got PIF over here and LIV are sort of over here doing their own thing. So the closer that we can get to Yasir, PIF and hopefully finalize that investment, I think that will be a really good thing.”

That said, McIlroy believes there’s a way to incorporate team golf, but it doesn’t have to necessarily look like LIV.

“But, again, it’s going to require patience. People have contracts at LIV up until 2028, 2029. I don’t know if they’re going to see that all the way out, but I definitely see LIV playing in its current form for the next couple years anyway while everything gets figured out,” McIlroy explained. “I don’t think this is an overnight solution, but if we can get the investment in, then at least we can start working towards a compromise where we’re not going to make everyone happy, but at least make everyone understand why we’re doing what we’re doing.”