DP World’s Group Chief Communications Officer Daniel van Otterdijk has weighed in on the ongoing negotiations between the PGA Tour and the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia (PIF) – hinting at what the future of golfcould look like.
The PGA Tour, which is in conflict with the Saudi-backed LIV Golf, seemed to extend an olive branch last June by announcing a framework agreement with PIF. But 16 months later, players and fans are still left guessing about the sport’s direction.
Initially, there was buzz around a potential merger, suggesting a unified platform allowing players to participate across both tours. As discussions have progressed, it now seems more likely that the PGA Tour and LIV will remain distinct entities but may offer players greater flexibility in their schedules.
Drawing parallels with cricket, where players engage in various leagues throughout the year in countries like India, England, and Australia, Otterdijk suggests golf might adopt a similar approach, with players rotating between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, and LIV.
“The way that it will go, as far as we can see if you look at cricket as a model,” he told Gulf News. “Cricketers these days can play in franchise leagues around the world – the IPL, the Big Bash – whatever it is. It’s kind of like a smorgasbord of cricket they can play in.
“The top players, like Joe Root, Kane Williamson, or Virat Kohli, will say, ‘Look, I’m in my 30s, I’ve made X amount of money, I’m now going to play the elite tournaments’… I can see an end-to-end calendar from January to December, where there’s a prominent place for the PGA Tour, a prominent place for LIV Golf, and a prominent place for the DP World Tour.”
“We’re confident that within the next six months, they’ll come up with a structure that befits world golf in a much better way than what we currently have,” he added. “But of course, there are legacy issues to sort out.”
Earlier this month, key figures in the talks, Jay Monahan of the PGA Tour and Yasir Al-Rumayyan of LIV, met publicly for the first time at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland.