Report suggests deadline for PGA Tour-LIV Golf deal to be extended to April

The two parties announced a framework agreement back in June and gave themselves a deadline of 31 December 2023 to reach an agreement on combining commercial operations under a unified banner titled PGA Tour Enterprises.

However, that deadline looks set to be delayed with reportedly little progress having been made thus far, and it is now hoped that a deal will be finalised before the 2024 Masters in April.

Behind the scenes, the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) and its governor, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, were reportedly unhappy with private equity money entering the deal and possibly reducing the PIF's position, leading to stalled negotiations.

LIV Golf's signing of World No 3 Jon Rahm was partly in response to the PGA Tour's wrangling, in a bid to project the PIF's strength and bring the tour back to the table.

The PIF was initially barred from poaching any more PGA Tour players during negotiations via a non-solicitation agreement that formed part of the original framework agreement, but the clause was removed following antitrust concerns from the United States Department of Justice, leaving LIV Golf free to continue headhunting players as talks continued and reducing the PGA Tour's bargaining power.

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