As Monahan Negotiates in Saudi Arabia, McIlroy Says Golf Must Go Global

It’s been reported that PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan is in Saudi Arabia to meet with members of that country’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) to try and work to finalize the framework agreement between the sides that was agreed to last June.

Sports Business Journal reports it’s the first face-to-face meeting between Monahan and PIF Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan since the initial agreement was made last summer.

A big discussion point as of late will be how the game of professional golf will be more global if the sides end up reaching an agreement.

Rory McIlroy, playing in Dubai this week on the DP World Tour, echoed that sentiment.

Rory McIlroy: Golf must go global or risk being “fractured forever.”https://t.co/tPQWDh0WAp

— Golf Central (@GolfCentral) January 17, 2024

“I’ve said this for the last few months, but golf is at an inflection point, and if golf doesn’t do it now, I fear that it will never do it and we’ll sort of have this fractured landscape forever,” McIlroy said Wednesday.

DP World Tour commissioner Keith Pelley, who is leaving the circuit to run Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment in Toronto this spring, said the same earlier this week.

“I think the PGA Tour is coming to the realization that global is the key for the growth. They have heard me say it once or twice,” Pelley said.

Earlier this month, McIlroy said that his ideal tour would be to include national opens of other countries like Australia, Canada, and South Africa as big tournaments and to perhaps even add one as another major.

⚽️🤝⛳️ #CHAMPIONS LEAGUE — Rory McIlroy wants to see a framework in golf where at the very top level is a Champions League style tour: “The way I view it is a bit like the Champions League in football… If you want to create something that is a real value for the game of golf, I… pic.twitter.com/oF9s9ck8Qf

— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) January 17, 2024

With the talk of international events increasing, whatever the for-profit entity that emerges from the talks between the PGA Tour and PIF, expect a global focus to be a big part of what lies ahead.

Cover Photo via X