PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — There are many people to blame for pro golf’s civil-turned-Cold War, but largely two men have been tasked with ending it. You know the names: Jay and Yasir. Monahan and Al-Rumayyan, respectively.
Whenever they’ve met, it’s been big news. When they play golf together, photographers rush to document it. But to this day, only one person has gotten them both to speak on the record: David Faber, the host of CNBC’s Squawk on the Street, on the morning of June 6, 2023, when Monahan and Al-Rumayyan first announced their intentions to bridge their respective tours.
At this point, golf fans probably want Faber to put the markets aside and get back to golf journalism, because it’s Players Week in Ponte Vedra, and we’re now nearly two years removed from that fateful day. With Players Week comes a reminder that, in terms of usable information, we receive only one side of the story. And a strained one at that.
Critics have had field days (multiple, annually) with Monahan’s press conferences at TPC Sawgrass. Tuesday was no different as he once again declared positives and deflected negatives. Three years ago Monahan’s talking points were were stern, anti-LIV sentiments. In 2024, he was rigid, repeating how he was the right man to lead the Tour, regardless of a deal. In 2025, he’s now accepted that “wanting reunification” is the best point to preach. Golf fans may be anxious for a new Tour commish, but it’s useful at a basic level that they know what he wants.
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With Al-Rumayyan, we are forced to go searching. Even when the U.S. legal system was demanding information in 2023, while the two tours were at each other’s throats, Al-Rumayyan pleaded for sovereign immunity. That’s his right, of course, and he understandably has more on his plate than just golf.
To offer any further detail about his golf interests may be an unrealistic ask of the leader of the sixth-largest sovereign wealth fund in the world, which sprinkles its investments from Lucid Motors to Uber to something called The Jada Fund of Funds. But Al-Rumayyan also used that interview with Faber to publicly decree that he was set to become the chairman of the PGA Tour’s policy board, a role that absolutely would require a clarity of his intentions.
Instead of any specificity, that CNBC interview amounts to about half of the spots on the Golf Talking Points Bingo board. Al-Rumayyan stated that PIF investments into the Tour would “grow the game,” improve access for the sport, add diversity and bring new elements to the game to increase engagement.
After that … crickets.
Which leaves golf fans with a few options:
1. Interpret his actions, which have enriched the best players in the world but also bankrolled a globetrotting tour with losses reportedly in the billions and in desperate need of more viewers. Team golf seems high on his agenda.
2. Put their faith in leaks from the White House negotiations that report Al-Rumayyan is not getting what he wants. Team golf may not be high on everyone’s agenda.
3. Piece together quotes from others in the room: Tiger Woods, Adam Scott, Donald Trump or Monahan himself. “You should really ask them,” Scott said Tuesday.
When asked for his own perception of what Al-Rumayyan wants with the PGA Tour, Monahan balked.
“I think that’s a question for him to answer, not for me to answer,” he said, knowing full well no such opportunities exist. But one could easily argue that in the face of Monahan’s shaky approval rating, Al-Rumayyan’s voice would travel further now than ever before. If the sport is aching for what Al-Rumayyan ardently pitches behind closed doors, one would imagine his vision would be palatable and possibly even inspiring for the people so starved for answers about the game’s future.
Instead, we wade on through the status quo. Silence on one end, a bit more substance on the other. Two tours playing on separate continents for $25 million each, seemingly as close to a deal as Ponte Vedra is to Jeddah.