PGA Tour talks with Saudi PIF 'accelerating' over LIV link-up - Jay Monahan

The PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund have ramped up discussions on a deal announced last June that would ally the tour and the financial arm of LIV Golf.

But PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, in his first news conference since last August, said now is not the time to discuss specifics in public.

"As I've said on a number of occasions, you can't negotiate a deal like this in public," he said on Tuesday morning at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, ahead of The Players Championship.

"I recently met with the governor of the PIF, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, and our negotiations are accelerating as we spend time together."

Monahan was peppered with questions about the potential PIF deal as well as his own standing with players and didn't directly answer several questions.

But he didn't understate the need to boost the PGA Tour at a time when it finds itself on shaky ground after several top players bolted to the big-money LIV circuit.

"While we have several key issues that we still need to work through, we have a shared vision to quiet the noise and unlock golf's worldwide potential," said Monahan, who has served in his role since 1 January, 2017.

"It's going to take time, but I reiterate what I said at the Tour Championship in August. I see a positive outcome for the PGA Tour and the sport as a whole."

Monahan said the positives already are being seen with the emergence of new stars and the strength of established players.

"Three rookies who took distinctly different paths to the PGA Tour have already entered the winner's circle in 2024," he said.

"Nick Dunlap, the first amateur to win on the PGA Tour since 1992; Matthieu Pavon, a new arrival via the DP World Tour top 10, who sits third in the FedEx Cup standings;