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Jimmy Dunne resigned from the PGA Tour policy board on Monday. The Wall Street deal maker was one of the architects of the PGA Tour’s framework agreement with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.
The resignation letter sent to the board by the executive shed light on several issues, including the lack of progress in the PGA-PIF deal. According to the letter, obtained by several publications, Dunne complained about the increased number of players in the negotiations with the PIF.
It's pertinent to note that his step down comes just days after the PGA Tour announced a subcommittee, with players like Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, to negotiate the deal with the Saudis.
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Dunne, in his letter, wrote that there has been “no meaningful progress” towards a transaction with PIF and added that his vote and role is “utterly superfluous.” The resignation comes almost a year after PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan first announced the secret deal with the Saudis.
Three major takeaways from Jimmy Dunne's letter
#1 Change in nature of the PGA Tour-PIF deal
Jimmy Dunne noted that a deal with PIF would always be controversial. He reminded readers that the PGA Tour was strictly against the Saudis when he arrived on the board, back in January 2023.
He said that LIV Golf was considered a “fundamental threat” at the time. However, this has since changed. Dunne wrote in his resignation letter:
“When I arrived on the board in January 2023, everybody involved with the game was concerned about the fundamental threat of LIV Golf. As directed by Commissioner Monahan, I engaged LIV’s majority owner, the Public Investment Fund, to see if we could end the lawsuits and reunify the game.
Importantly, we were able to come to an agreement in which the lawsuits were dismissed with prejudice and a path was created for the Tour to remain in control of professional golf. I believe that history will look favorably on this outcome and the very real opportunities now afforded the Tour.”
#2 Players’ increased role in the negotiations
Dunne noted that he’s not been part of the PIF negotiations since June 2023. The architect of the original deal stated that the players now outnumber the Independent Directors on the Board.
He reiterated that there has been “no meaningful progress” in the negotiations. He claimed that he feels ‘his vote and his role’ is ‘superfluous.’
It's pertinent to note that Dunne was one of the seven members of the transaction subcommittee created for the negotiations. Interestingly, only Monahan and McIlroy from the seven had official roles on the board last June.
The remaining six committee members will be responsible for the framework agreement negotiations.
#3 Call for the unification of golf
In his letter, Dunne claimed that “unifying professional golf is paramount to restoring fan interest and repairing wounds left from a fractured game.” The exec noted that he tried to “move all minds in that direction.”
Notably, several officials and golfers have repeated the same lines in the past. Many remain hopeful about the unification of the PGA Tour and LIV Golf through the PIF deal.
