Ian Poulter says he’s been told LIV Golf is here to stay.
And his source?
The governor of the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund.
“I talked to his Excellency last week,” Poulter said, referring to a name given to Yasir Al-Rumayyan. “He told me, never mind 2024, 2025 — LIV will go on and on.”
Poulter’s revelation comes as part of a lengthy interview this week with the Telegraph’s James Corrigan, and you can — and should — read the entire piece here. It also comes under a time of at least some uncertainty as LIV plays its year’s final event.
The biggest question ahead? What will come of the proposed agreement that will bring together the PGA Tour and the PIF. The latter also funds LIV, and LIV has fought for players and prestige with the Tour since its inception in June of 2022 — so one could deduce that LIV’s future could be in doubt, should the deal pass.
Then again, it may not; various reports are saying as much, and the Tour might be looking elsewhere. Then there are LIV’s players themselves. At this week’s event, Phil Mickelson was asked if he thought more Tour players would sign on with LIV.
In response, Mickelson jumped on a word.
“Do I think that?” Mickelson said. “No. I know that’s going to happen.
“When players look at LIV, they are wanting to be a part of it. Everybody here is happy and enjoying what we are doing and enjoying the team aspect of it and enjoying each other and the camaraderie and enjoying playing golf globally and all the benefits that come with playing this tour.
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“So there’s a lot of players that see that and want to be a part of it. The question is, you know, how many spots are available. There’s a lot more players that want to come than there are spots.”
There was more LIV Golf player confidence this week. Bubba Watson and Dustin Johnson, team captains in the league, said there’s been outside interest in purchasing their franchises.
How much interest?
“To answer your question, anywhere from 10 to 20 people have asked to buy the RangeGoats,” Watson said of his team. “There was three in Singapore [where LIV played earlier this year], and then after Singapore, the floodgates opened; there was even more. There’s been talk this week. I met with people this week. Yeah, there’s quite a few.”
Is there some bravado in there? Perhaps. It would be surprising to hear LIV players say something opposite. Still, players interviewed have been unified in their confidence in the future.
And last week, at LIV Golf’s event in Saudi Arabia, Poulter talked with the man who is talking with the PGA Tour.
But could Al-Rumayyan be believed? Could things change? It should be noted that in late June, weeks after the announcement of the deal, Al-Rumayyan told LIV captains that the league was his “f**king baby,” according to a story written by Sports Illustrated’s Alex Miceli.
In his story for the Telegraph, Corrigan wrote this question:
Phil Mickelson promises more PGA Tour players will join LIV Golf
“How does he [Poulter] know Al-Rumayyan will not abandon the league in a truce of self-interest, a deal of shared-gain?”
Poulter answered confidently.
“Because I was there and talked to him,” Poulter said in the Telegraph story. “And he is passionate as he was at the very beginning in all this. He loves the concept, loves how it’s progressing and the impact it’s made and is making. You see it throughout the sports world, not only in golf.”
At the least, we should know soon. The proposed agreement did have a deadline of the end of the year.
And LIV started this season in February — and would presumably do so next year.
Editor’s note: To read the entire Telegraph story — which includes a notable quote from an unnamed LIV player on the upcoming TGL series — please click here.
