Jay Monahan claims they maybe 'near a breakthrough' after confirming 'room to integrate’ LIV Golf in PGA Tour

Jay Monahan has good news for everyone waiting for some movement on the PGA Tour PIF merger. The two sides have been in negotiations since June of 2023, and they've not yet come to a firm agreement.

While there seems to be some quiet on that front now, Monahan says that can happen when the two sides are close to working something out. He believes it's the natural flow of a discussion.

Ahead of the Players Championship, the Tour commissioner said:

"When you're in the midst of complex negotiations, particularly when you may be near a breakthrough, there are ebbs and flows in the discussion. The most important thing is the mutual respect that we've built over the last couple of years."

Jay Monahan added that they "appreciate" Yasir Al-Rumayyan's vision and can see a future where the two sides join on a board and work together to move the global game forward. The commissioner went on:

"As part of our negotiations, we believe there's room to integrate important aspects of LIV Golf into the PGA Tour platform."

The PGA Tour boss has led two trips to the White House to get President Donald Trump's assistance on the deal, and one was expected to lead to a deal in principle, but that never transpired.

LIV Golf has a number of different aspects than the PGA Tour, including team scores, 54 holes instead of 72, and many other tweaks. It's unclear which ones, but Monahan is willing to bring on some changes that LIV has introduced to the golf world.

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Jay Monahan reaffirms commitment to 72 holes

Changing the PGA Tour from 72 holes to 54 holes would be a major change. LIV Golf plays just three rounds, but the PGA Tour and all of its events have virtually always been 72-hole, stroke play format.

Jay Monahan wants to keep 72 holes for tournaments (Image via Imagn)

That is reportedly not going to change, as it's one of the biggest pieces of the Tour's puzzle. Jay Monahan said via The Athletic:

“These tournaments are 72-hole stroke play tournaments at historic, iconic venues, with moments like we had last Sunday with Russell Henley and his family. That’s who we are as an organization, and that’s who we’ll always be as an organization. So that’s at the center of the way that we think about what our fans want and what our players want, and that’s obviously a very important consideration in our discussions, which is why I’ve mentioned that today.”

He specifically cited Russell Henley's comeback win thanks to an improbable chip-in on the 16th hole of the fourth round. In 54-hole format, that moment would've never happened, and someone else would've won the tournament the night before.