McGinley on PGA Tour-PIF deal: “There's got to be some appeasement”

Paul McGinley

Paul McGinley insists there must be some “appeasement” of Saudi Arabia’s PIF by the PGA Tour and proposed a plan that would see two PGA Tour teams play in LIV Golf’s season finale.

Speaking on Golf Channel, the former European Ryder Cup captain and DP World Tour board member proposed allowing ten LIV players to compete in the Players Championship and five Signature Events and allowing all LIV players full access to the DP World Tour in exchange for the Saudi Public Investment Fund agreeing to invest $1.5 billion in PGA Tour Enterprises.

While PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan said at TPC Sawgrass yesterday that there was room “to integrate important aspects of LIV Golf into the PGA Tour platform”, he insisted “we will not do so in a way that diminishes the strength of our platform or the very real momentum we have with our fans and our partners.”

McGinley believes that golf needs to get the top players together more often and suggested a plan that might reunite the game.

“There's got to be some appeasement,” he said. “If you want to bring LIV back in, there's got to be some appeasement to what they're doing. 

“I know it's not ideal, and maybe it's a starting point to jump off and evolve into something maybe slightly different, but it's a jumping-off point, and the game needs to get to a jumping-off point. 

“It needs to somehow find a way of coming together because it cannot thrive, as much as Jay can say.

“And I agree what he's saying is, it makes a lot of really good points, and it looks like, commercially, it's in a good place, but it's not really going to thrive as a business without a product that everyone is together at least 10 or 11 times a year.”

The Dubliner laid out a five-point plan he believes could work.

“For the moment the PGA Tour and LIV continue down the different paths that they're on at the moment,” he said. “That's fine. It's quite clear. 

“There are lines in the sand, and that's what both want to do at this moment in time. But let's move in a couple of commonalities to see where there's common ground. 

“So LIV players would get unrestricted access to the DP World Tour events. At the moment, they have to pay fines and serve suspensions. Take that away, let them come and play as much as they want in the DP World Tour.

“That would empower the DP World Tour, and the PGA Tour would benefit indirectly because, remember, they own 40pc of the media rights and commercial interests of the media rights commercially on the DP World Tour. 

“Now, in terms of coming together for more events, what if you invited 10 - it might be the wrong number- but let’s just start with 10 players from LIV coming over to play in this event (The Players), as well as five signature events.

“So you would really empower those five Signature Events, as well as this tournament, which is one of the greatest fields in the game. 

“Then in return, LIV would give access to two PGA Tour teams that would play in their grand finale, wherever that may be, globally.

“So the likes of Scottie Scheffler or Colin Morikawa and Xander Schauffele and Rory McIlroy or Ludwig Aberg, wherever you want to go, would all go and play as part of a team. 

“How do you divide up the team? I don't know, but you'd have two teams from the leading players on the PGA Tour going to compete at the finale of LIV. I think that will certainly be a fun tournament to watch. 

“Now, in return for that, PIF would have to match what the SSG has done, which is investing $1.5 billion into PGA Tour enterprises.

“Now, I think there's a lot of commonalities there. I don't find it incredibly complex. I see there are wins everywhere: no one tour is going to absolutely win, or no one tour is going to absolutely lose. 

“As they say, you've got to break eggs to make an omelette, and there will be some breaking of eggs here. 

“But I believe that that would be some kind of common ground to get the top players in the world coming together 11 times a year. 

“You'd have the four major championships, you'd have the TPC, you'd have five signature events, as well as that grand finale over on LIV and that's 11 times. And I think that's sufficient. 

“I think that's what what the public would like, and what the public would want will be to see the top players coming together only 11 times. 

“That's not a huge ask and I think there could be wins all around, particularly commercially, and it also ticks the box for the game becoming a little bit more global rather than American as it is at the moment, particularly with three of the four majors based here over in America.

“Remember, there's a big big world out there that is crying out to see the world's best players.”