PGA Tour - LIV Golf Deal Reportedly 'Far From Complete' With Player Demands Coming To Forefront

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The PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund (PIF) would like to have details of their highly talked about yet still very mysterious merger finalized by December 31. With the end of the year fast approaching it's starting to sound as if that deadline may come and go without anything coming to fruition.

According to Bloomberg, negotiations have hit a speed bump, or speed bumps rather, in the form of regulatory concerns and demands by PGA Tour players when it comes to the yet-to-be-named entity the Tour and PIF plan to create.

Bloomberg spoke with anonymous "people familiar with the matter" who explained that the planned merger is "far from complete" with the Tour, PIF, and in turn, LIV Golf, responding to antitrust concerns from the U.S. Justice Department and PGA Tour player control regarding whatever this new world of professional golf may come to be.

PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan speaks during his annual "State of the PGA TOUR" press conference prior to the TOUR Championship, the third and final event of the FedExCup Playoffs, at East Lake Golf Club on August 22, 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Keyur Khamar/PGA TOUR via Getty Images)

"PGA Tour and LIV have to also navigate a range of other concerns before closing the deal, including figuring out financial details of PIF’s investment and the fate of contracts with broadcasters and brand sponsors," according to the outlet. "There isn’t a specific issue setting the pace of discussions as it’s a complex negotiation, one of the people said."

READ: LIV GOLF’S FUTURE REPORTEDLY FALLS UNDER THE CONTROL OF THE PGA TOUR AS FRAMEWORK OF MERGER LEAKS

While a deadline extension has yet to be finalized as the calendar is only in October, a delay would mean that the Tour and LIV Golf would go about their own business, separately, until an agreement is reached.

PGA Tour Players Appear To Have Control

The Tour and PIF striking a deal in the middle of next year's PGA Tour season, for example, wouldn't mean all sides would scrap the remainder of the schedule and create whatever the new-look tour(s) are agreed upon.

"Having PGA Tour players at the helm will be crucial as the deal can’t be finalized until the golf circuits land on terms that would provide middle ground to appease the Tour’s golfers burned by the merger and forge a path to bring LIV golfers back to the Tour," according to the report.

Given that there are far more questions than answers on top of a plethora of moving parts, it's become somewhat forgotten that the PGA Tour players now outnumber the independent board members on the Tour's policy board after Tiger Woods was appointed in August.

Tour players outnumber non-player members six to five giving them the final say in the Tour’s plans moving forward.

As we continue the wait-and-see game it's starting to feel more and more like the announcement of the merger came well before an agreed-upon merger was ever established.

Follow Mark Harris on X @ItIsMarkHarris

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Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the world of professional golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.