-
Mark Schlabach, ESPN Senior Writer
PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and Yasir Al-Rumayyan, governor of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, were grouped together in the first round of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at Carnoustie Golf Links in Scotland on Thursday.
The pairing is yet another sign that golf’s great divide might be easing, as officials from the PGA Tour continue to hammer out a potential multibillion-dollar investment from PIF into PGA Tour Enterprises, the tour’s new for-profit entity.
Monahan was paired with PGA Tour golfer Billy Horschel, while Al-Rumayyan played with LIV Golf League player Dean Burmester.
Monahan and other PGA Tour officials met with the PIF Sept. 11-12 in New York.
Horschel told reporters in Scotland that he invited Monahan to be his Dunhill partner in late April at the Zurich Classic in New Orleans.
Horschel didn’t anticipate that the pending deal between the PIF and PGA Tour Enterprises would be discussed during the round.
The PIF has financed the rival LIV Golf League the past three years.
“I don’t think they are going to have any conversation on the golf course about the deal,” Horschel said. “I do believe that there’s been goodwill on both sides to try to make a deal happen over the last 18 months, year, since the agreement. It may not move as quickly as people want.
“There’s a lot of complicated things to figure out, and there’s a lot of things behind the scenes that the public just doesn’t understand that they can’t comment on.”
DP World Tour CEO Guy Kinnings is also attending the DP World Tour pro-am event.
PGA Tour star Rory McIlroy, who is playing in the tournament with his father, Gerry, told BBC Northern Ireland the Monahan and Al-Rumayyan pairing was a “step in the right direction.”
“You know, there’s no better place than the home of golf to get everyone together and talking,” McIlroy said. “It’s a great thing and a good sign that Jay and Yasir are both here and playing together. It is a step in the right direction. Time will tell if things go in the direction I and a lot of people want them to.
“We all understand it is not easy and, you know, change for the most part in golf is resisted because it is such a traditional sport. But at this point, change is needed to drive the game forward, and hopefully we can get to that point.”
McIlroy, who is a member of the PGA Tour Enterprises transaction subcommittee that is negotiating with the Saudis, said he remains hopeful a deal can be reached by the end of the year.
McIlroy will play with Monahan on Friday and with Al-Rumayyan on Saturday.
“Definitely before the year’s end,” McIlroy said. “Maybe it is going too slow for the people who follow golf, but I think in the business world deals of this size take time. You know, you are talking about billions of dollars changing hands, different jurisdictions in the Middle East, U.S, and Europe.”