Donald Trump played a round of golf with PGA Tour chief Jay Monahan ahead of his meeting with LIV official: Reports

President-elect Donald Trump played golf with PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan ahead of his meeting with PIF Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan. On Friday, November 15, Trump joined Monahan on the greens in Palm Beach, as reported by The Washington Post.

The following day, Saturday, November 16, he attended a UFC match, where he was spotted having a discussion with the PIF Governor. Notably, Tesla founder Elon Musk was also present at the UFC match.

Donald Trump is an avid golfer and plays the game frequently. He also owns several golf courses worldwide and has hosted LIV Golf tournaments, financially supported by the PIF, in recent years. Trump, who also won the 2024 Presidential election, met with the PGA Tour Commissioner and the PIF Governor amid talks of a potential merger.

In June 2023, following a months-long legal battle, the PGA Tour shockingly announced its merger with LIV Golf. Negotiations with the PIF have continued since. Although the deal was initially expected to be finalized by the end of December 2023, it was postponed to 2024. However, the third season of LIV Golf has also concluded, but the deal is not finalized. Nonetheless, they have been in talks about a potential merger.

Amid this, Donald Trump’s meeting with the leaders of both circuits has drawn people's attention. Although the exact agenda for his meetings with the PGA Tour and PIF leaders remains unknown, a source familiar with Trump's golf outing with Monahan revealed that it was the President who initiated the match. A Tour spokesperson confirmed the meeting, saying (as quoted by The Washington Post):

"President-Elect Trump has always been a champion of the game of golf and Commissioner Monahan was honored to accept his invitation to play at Trump International. The President-Elect and the Commissioner share a love for the game and the Commissioner enjoyed their time together.”

Notably, Donald Trump has a strong relationship with several professional golfers and often plays with them.

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"I really do think we should have one tour"- Donald Trump on PGA and LIV Golf merger

People have all their attention on the ongoing negotiation deal between the PGA Tour and PIF. Donald Trump also opened up about it last month when he appeared on a podcast with Jim Gray and Bill Belichick.

The American President suggested that he could help facilitate the merger and reflected on the idea of having "one tour" with "the best players in that tour." He said (via The Washington Post):

“I would say it would take me the better part of 15 minutes to get that deal done. I’m really going to work on other things, to be honest with you. I think we have much bigger problems than that. But I do think we should have one tour and they should have the best players in that tour.”

Amid all these merger talks, the PGA Tour and LIV golfers are preparing for an exciting golf match scheduled for next month. Notably, Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka from the Saudi Circuit will compete in a televised event, The Showdown, against PGA Tour stars Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler. The tournament will take place on December 17 in Las Vegas.