The rival golf tours have not yet presented a plan to work together. Golf star Rory McIlroy has his own idea of who could help the project achieve a breakthrough.
Northern Ireland’s golf star Rory McIlroy is relying on the help of US President-elect Donald Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk in the difficult negotiations between rival golf tours. The four-time major winner believes that Trump could settle the dispute between the PGA Tour, the DP World Tour and the LIV Tour and accelerate the process of merging. Trump suggested in a podcast earlier this week that he only needed “15 minutes to get the deal done.”
“He might be able to do it,” said the 35-year-old McIlroy on Sky Sports ahead of the Abu Dhabi Championship. “He has Elon Musk, who I think is the smartest man in the world, at his side. Maybe if we involve Musk we can achieve something.”
Talks between the US PGA Tour, the European DP World Tour and the LIV Tour financed by Saudi Arabia have been ongoing since June 2023. The three tours had signed a framework agreement at that time. However, there have been no concrete results so far.
McIlroy hopes for Trump deal
Trump obviously has a good relationship with Saudi Arabia, said McIlroy. “He has a good relationship with golf. He is a golf lover. So, maybe. Who knows?” But as the next President of the United States, “Trump probably has more important things to do than worry about golf,” the golf star suspected.
McIlroy himself has been repeatedly linked to the LIV League in the past. In April, the Northern Irishman said he planned to end his career on the PGA Tour, denying a report in a London newspaper at the time that he had been offered $850 million and a stake in the LIV Golf League. Neither he nor his agents had ever discussed a possible deal to lure him to the league, which is financed by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF).
dpa/rc
