Perhaps it was appropriate that, a day after President Trump announced his extraordinary tariff revolution, LIV Golf enthusiastically greeted him to this Doral resort that he owns and that, this weekend, will host the latest $25 million event.
Trump landed in his Marine One helicopter on a helipad by the ninth fairway on Thursday evening and the mood in the air was palpably that of belligerence as significant figures on the breakaway league extolled their own idea of isolationism and going it on their own.
If this is the week for the big statement, then LIV Golf is determined to prove that it has the potential to be a historic triumph if and when the mooted deal with the PGA Tour is finally called off.
And at this point – despite Trump telling reporters again on Thursday night that he wants the tours to unite, saying it “would be a great thing” – the negotiations do appear to be in tatters.
Six weeks ago, Trump hosted PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of the Saudi Public Investment Fund and LIV chairman, at the White House in what, on a wave of optimism, were billed as breakthrough talks in the mottled merger.
However, it has since become an open secret that the only thing that almost broke was the door of the Oval Office, as Al-Rumayyan exited feeling angry and insulted.
Row at the White House
In the assessment of the respective assets, the PGA Tour informed the Saudis it valued LIV at $500 million and, as the Saudis have already ploughed in an estimated $5 billion into Al-Rumayyan’s pet project, that sense of offence was maybe inevitable. Furthermore, while the PGA Tour might be considering incorporating four LIV tournaments into a redrawn schedule, Al-Rumayyan expects a show.
“He wants 14 LIV events, with 13 teams, just as there are this year,” one prominent source told Telegraph Sport. “Since the row at the White House, he has sent a letter to the Tour demanding exactly that and they have come back with a resounding refusal. So that’s it. Yasir will not back down – he will probably double down, pumping in even more investment and playing the long game. It is back to square one. LIV versus the rest.”
