PGA Tour commissioner says sides are making progress on deal with Saudi backers of LIV Golf
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Tue, Jun 25, 2024
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PGA Tour Commissioner Says Sides Are Making Progress on Deal with Saudi Backers of LIV Golf
CROMWELL, Conn. (AP) — PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan said Wednesday that the difficulty in finalizing a deal with the Saudi backers of LIV Golf isn’t a reason for concern.
“With complexity comes opportunity,” he said before the start of the Travelers Championship at the TPC River Highlands. “There are a lot of different factors at play, but nobody who is having the conversation is unaware of the complexity. And everyone, I think, is embracing the fact that there are obstacles and things you’ve got to overcome in a complex situation.
“We have the right people around the table for us,” Monahan said, “and they do as well.”
It’s been more than a year since the PGA Tour and the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia — the financial backer of the rival LIV circuit — announced plans to form a partnership that would help mend the rift caused by the departures of dozens of top players lured away by Saudi riches.
A framework agreement was announced on June 6, 2023, with plans to finalize it by the end of the year.
The deadline passed without a finalized deal. Monahan said a June 11 meeting in New York, attended by Tiger Woods and Adam Scott, with Rory McIlroy phoning in from the Memorial, was “very productive.” He declined to give specifics.
Monahan said he is on the phone with the PIF multiple times a week, including just about an hour earlier on Wednesday morning. “My outlook for those discussions continues to be very positive,” he said.
Speaking from the last of the limited field, no-cut signature events on the tour’s calendar this year, Monahan declined to say what has been agreed to and what remains unsettled. The original framework has changed greatly, he acknowledged.
“The framework agreement is still relevant. There are aspects of it that certainly continue to be in play. But we’ve all stepped back, and we started anew,” he said, listing new committees and other opportunities for the players to participate and profit from a future tour. “The vast majority of what we’re talking about, we’re building from the ground up.”
One of the complexities the deal faces is a possible objection from the Justice Department on antitrust grounds. The rival tours would need to show that the deal enhances competition — by bringing all the best golfers to the same tournament, for example — instead of squelching competition by giving golf fans, sponsors, and players fewer options.
The sides already bowed to one suggestion from the Justice Department last summer, incorporating certain changes in the framework agreement.
Meanwhile, players continued to defect to LIV — including last year’s Masters champion, Jon Rahm.
Only seven players have been involved in the talks. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler said he didn’t know enough about the negotiations to worry about what will happen.
“I haven’t really heard too much, so I don’t know if they’re going great or if they’re going poorly, so your guess is as good as mine I think at this point,” he said. “Definitely no frustration or anything like that for me. It’s out of my control, so I’m not too worried about it.
“They have got a lot of big business decisions to make,” said Scheffler, who is a member of the Player Advisory Council. “But as far as input in the negotiations, I don’t really have much to say at all.”
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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
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PGA Tour Commissioner Says Sides Are Making Progress on Deal with Saudi Backers of LIV Golf
CROMWELL, Conn. (AP) — PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan said Wednesday that the difficulty in finalizing a deal with the Saudi backers of LIV Golf isn’t a reason for concern.
“With complexity comes opportunity,” he said before the start of the Travelers Championship at the TPC River Highlands. “There are a lot of different factors at play, but nobody who is having the conversation is unaware of the complexity. And everyone, I think, is embracing the fact that there are obstacles and things you’ve got to overcome in a complex situation.
“We have the right people around the table for us,” Monahan said, “and they do as well.”
It’s been more than a year since the PGA Tour and the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia — the financial backer of the rival LIV circuit — announced plans to form a partnership that would help mend the rift caused by the departures of dozens of top players lured away by Saudi riches.
A framework agreement was announced on June 6, 2023, with plans to finalize it by the end of the year.
The deadline passed without a finalized deal. Monahan said a June 11 meeting in New York, attended by Tiger Woods and Adam Scott, with Rory McIlroy phoning in from the Memorial, was “very productive.” He declined to give specifics.
Monahan said he is on the phone with the PIF multiple times a week, including just about an hour earlier on Wednesday morning. “My outlook for those discussions continues to be very positive,” he said.
Speaking from the last of the limited field, no-cut signature events on the tour’s calendar this year, Monahan declined to say what has been agreed to and what remains unsettled. The original framework has changed greatly, he acknowledged.
“The framework agreement is still relevant. There are aspects of it that certainly continue to be in play. But we’ve all stepped back, and we started anew,” he said, listing new committees and other opportunities for the players to participate and profit from a future tour. “The vast majority of what we’re talking about, we’re building from the ground up.”
One of the complexities the deal faces is a possible objection from the Justice Department on antitrust grounds. The rival tours would need to show that the deal enhances competition — by bringing all the best golfers to the same tournament, for example — instead of squelching competition by giving golf fans, sponsors, and players fewer options.
The sides already bowed to one suggestion from the Justice Department last summer, incorporating certain changes in the framework agreement.
Meanwhile, players continued to defect to LIV — including last year’s Masters champion, Jon Rahm.
Only seven players have been involved in the talks. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler said he didn’t know enough about the negotiations to worry about what will happen.
“I haven’t really heard too much, so I don’t know if they’re going great or if they’re going poorly, so your guess is as good as mine I think at this point,” he said. “Definitely no frustration or anything like that for me. It’s out of my control, so I’m not too worried about it.
“They have got a lot of big business decisions to make,” said Scheffler, who is a member of the Player Advisory Council. “But as far as input in the negotiations, I don’t really have much to say at all.”
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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
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Bryan Reynolds Hits Late HR After Mitch Keller, Hunter Greene Duel to Lift the Pirates Past Reds 1-0
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Bryan Reynolds hit a go-ahead home run in the bottom of the eighth inning, leading the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 1-0 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday.
Reynolds capitalized on an 80 mph changeup from Nick Martinez (2-5), sending it just over the center field wall for his 10th homer of the season. This win allowed the Pirates to take two out of three games from Cincinnati.
The home run extended Reynolds’ hitting streak to 17 games, the longest by a Pirate since 2019. He is batting .357 during the streak, with three home runs and 10 RBIs. This surge comes during a time of year when Reynolds typically excels, as he is a career .345 hitter in June.
“I’ve got a good history in June, I guess,” Reynolds said with a characteristic shrug. “So, need to make it a longer month.”
Colin Holderman (3-0) retired the three batters he faced in the eighth after relieving a brilliant Mitch Keller. David Bednar worked a perfect ninth for his 16th save.
Keller didn’t put up much of a fight when Pirates manager Derek Shelton came to get him after issuing a leadoff walk in the eighth, even though Keller had thrown just 83 pitches.
“I had no idea how many pitches I was at, wasn’t really looking at that, just keep going,” Keller said. “I don’t even know how much it ended up being. Felt like 150, though.”
The teams combined for just five hits on a steamy day at PNC Park, where Keller and Hunter Greene put on a show.
Keller allowed two hits — singles to Jonathan India and Santiago Espinal — over seven-plus innings while striking out seven. The 28-year-old has pitched at least five innings in 46 straight starts, the longest active streak in the majors.
The Reds failed to get a runner to third against Keller and did little against Holderman and Bednar.
“I don’t know if we’ve pitched better than we did in this series,” said Shelton of the Pirates, who allowed three runs in three games against Cincinnati.
Hunter Greene matched Keller pitch for pitch into the seventh. The hard-throwing 24-year-old right-hander struck out nine in 6 1/3 innings. Greene didn’t allow a walk, though he did hit two batters, boosting his season total to 11, the most in the majors.
“Hunter’s been working really hard in between starts to train himself to go deeper into games, just one more thing he’s doing to get better,” Reds manager David Bell said. “He’s put a little extra effort toward that.”
Greene’s only mistakes were giving up a double to right by Yasmani Grandal in the second and a double off the wall in center field by Rowdy Tellez with one out in the seventh.
GETTING ROWDY
Tellez began trotting when the ball left his bat, thinking it was gone. He started chugging when it smacked off the wall and scrambled into second just before the throw came in from the outfield.
The burly first baseman, who is hitting .421 (16 of 38) over his past 12 games, said afterward, “Are you going to ask me about my double that should have been a homer? Write that it’s a double that should have been a homer.”
Shelton joked afterward that the penalty for Tellez would be a new bottle of wine for the wine fridge Shelton recently had installed in his office.
“He got to second base,” Shelton said. “I don’t think Rowdy’s getting to third base really ever ... But, he knew he screwed up.”
The hit ended Greene’s day but not his impressive run of starts. Greene has at least five strikeouts in his 15 starts, the longest stretch by a Reds starter to begin the season since 1901 and the longest by a Cincinnati pitcher at any point since Mario Soto in 1982.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Reds: Held CF TJ Friedl (hamstring) out of the lineup for a second straight day after he tweaked his hamstring while making a spectacular catch on Monday night.
Pirates: Activated INF Alika Williams (wrist) from the injured list and optioned him to Triple-A Indianapolis.
UP NEXT
Reds: Welcome Boston for a three-game series starting Friday.
Pirates: Host Tampa Bay for a three-game weekend set beginning Friday.
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