DP World Tour chief executive Guy Kinnings says he “gets the sense” negotiations between the PGA Tour, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, and the European Tour Group over the future of men’s professional golf “should be happening fairly soon.”
Around 10 months have passed since news of a “framework agreement” between the three main parties became public, yet Kinnings revealed on Thursday – when speaking to a select group of British and Irish journalists – that concrete talks over how exactly this specific area of the sport will look moving forward have yet to begin.
Kinnings – who recently replaced Keith Pelley as the head of the European Tour – said that he, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, and PIF chair Yasir Al-Rumayyan have all spoken to each other in separate instances over the past months but not while all in the same room. Yet, that is apparently about to change.
Addressing The Scotsman, Kinnings said: “I’ve got loads of stuff in my in-tray that involves the DP World Tour, all our other tours and the Ryder Cup, but we all know there is one single topic that really needs to get sorted first and the rest of the stuff will flow from there.
“You know, this is the irony of what we are facing right now. Golf is in such a really healthy state. In so many metrics, golf couldn’t be stronger. You know, participation levels, interest, whatever. But until we get the solution of what is the future of the game is going to look like, it’s kind of you have that faint sense of it’s the elephant in the room in every conversation you could possibly have.
“So, from my perspective, all I want to do is make sure we as quickly as possible get the right people around a table to talk about what can a future look like. I don’t expect them to go in knowing all the answers. There’s lots of things have to get worked at. What does the product look like, probably from 2026 and beyond? What’s the pathway? What does it mean for things?
“But, until you get into the room with the right people with the right intent to try and find a solution, you are never going to work out a deal and, at the end of the day, this is what is needed right now as quickly as we can.”
In a line to BBC Sport’s Iain Carter, Kinnings said: “We just have to get that negotiation started. I get the…
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