Patrick Cantlay: PGA-PIF talks ‘always evolving’

Sometimes no news is good news. When it comes to the trickle of information about the PGA Tour’s merger with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, Patrick Cantlay would concur.

Cantlay, who sits on the PGA Tour policy board as a player director, was asked Tuesday if those PGA-PIF negotiations had an end in sight after a few months of relatively little new information.

“Well, it’s definitely quieted down, and I agree with you, there hasn’t been as much chatter the last few months, which has been nice,” Cantlay said ahead of the FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis, Tenn. “I think that’s just kind of the nature of it. There’s going to be ebbs and flows, depending on what kind of information comes out or what announcements.

“When you say ‘end in sight,’ it’s always evolving. The PGA Tour has always been changing and trying to evolve and get better. Depends what you mean by — what you define as the finish line. But I know all of us are working incredibly hard all the time to get the best outcome.”

More than a year has passed since the PGA Tour, the DP World Tour and the PIF (which finances LIV Golf) announced a “framework agreement” for a merger that shocked the sports world. The parties blew past a self-imposed Dec. 31, 2023, deadline to finalize the deal.

The only real news of the summer came in June, when PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan met with PGA Tour representatives in New York the week of the framework agreement’s one-year anniversary.

Asked if the parties were close to the finish line, Cantlay deflected.

“Yeah, I’m not on the transaction committee so I’m not totally up to date with where everything is at currently,” Cantlay said. “But whenever we do get a meaningful update, that’ll come back to the board, and then I’m sure we’ll have a discussion about it.”

The PGA Tour’s transaction subcommittee features Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland and Adam Scott of Australia.

–Field Level Media