Trump hosts PGA Tour-PIF ‘reunification’ meeting. Here’s what we learned

As with all things PGA Tour and the Saudi PIF, we’ll know more when we know more. But something significant happened on Thursday at the White House that will affect the future of men’s professional golf.

Thursday’s meeting was in fact the latest in a string of significant somethings. President Trump initiated this meeting after a stretch in which he met with PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and Tour Player Director Adam Scott and later played golf with Tiger Woods. This time it was all of the above plus PIF governor (and LIV Golf chairman) Yasir Al-Rumayyan who joined Trump at the White House. The meeting lasted several hours and was accompanied by feverish speculation that some sort of preliminary deal could arrive as early as the end of the day.

Instead we got a brief statement from Monahan, Woods and Scott, who delivered what he called an “update” on a “constructive working session” with Trump and Al-Rumayyan.

“Thanks to the leadership of President Trump, we have initiated a discussion about the reunification of golf,” Monahan said. “We are committed to moving as quickly as possible and will share additional details as appropriate.

“We share a passion for the game and the importance of reunification. Most importantly, we all want the best players in the world playing together more often and are committed to doing all we can to deliver that outcome for fans.”

That’s not much — but it’s not nothing, either.

First there’s deference. To Al-Rumayyan, referred to here as “H.E.”, His Excellency. To Trump, who was once again explicitly thanked for his leadership; those involved in these meetings have made a point of publicly kissing the ring.

There is also a double-down focus on reunification. “Reunification” and a version of “important” are each used multiple times. If you’re rolling your eyes wondering what these two sides have been doing the last two-plus years, that’s more than fair. But this comes in the wake of increasingly confident remarks from Monahan, Woods, Scott and others.

Still, what remains unanswered is the biggest question all along: What happens to the two tours? The statement uses “the best players in the world playing together more often” as a North Star, but that’s a requirement that could be satisfied by LIV folding under the PGA Tour or some sort of side-by-side free-flowing two-tour system. From the PGA Tour side it’s clear that the ultimate goal is one unified tour, but Al-Rumayyan has put so much into LIV and believes so deeply in team golf that a compromise would necessarily include some sort of nod to the breakaway tour.

What’s clear from the entire proceeding is just how much the landscape has shifted in a few years. All negotiating parties are incentivized to find common ground; each can claim a victory if they do so.

Whatever LIV’s role in the future of men’s pro golf, Al-Rumayyan and the Saudis have gotten the seat at the table that they wanted and are closer than ever to investing in the PGA Tour, a move that would put them side by side with the Strategic Sports Group, a high-powered collection of powerhouse sports owners. This is a significant moment in the normalization of Saudi investment in sport.

Monahan and Tour leadership can take satisfaction in bringing professional golf back together; while we don’t know what that looks like we can assume that some of the top pros that Tour fans have missed — think Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Jon Rahm, Joaquin Niemann, take your pick — would be able to participate in Tour events, whether this year or next.

There are Woods and Scott and the rest of the players who banded together to stabilize the PGA Tour during a time of great uncertainty; they can claim victory knowing that their Tour will come through this period changed and battered and potentially reshaped — but ultimately preserved.

And there’s Trump, who lives and breathes golf and has extensive business dealings with the Tour, with LIV and with Saudi Arabia. This is his world; in a public appearance post-meeting he led a “Ti-ger” chant and showered praise on Scott (“I’ve always tried to swing like Adam, it never worked out that way”) and he would love nothing more than to be the toast of the game.

Incentives align. Meetings continue. Questions remain.