The PGA Tour will conclude its season this weekend with no end in sight to the ongoing negotiations with the financial backers of LIV Golf aimed at unifying the divided men’s professional game.
Speaking Wednesday ahead of the Tour Championship, which tees off Thursday, commissioner Jay Monahan said there is no deadline in place to reach a deal with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, which could invest up to $3 billion in the new for-profit entity PGA Tour Enterprises. “I don’t think we want to restrict ourselves in that way,” Monahan said at his annual press conference at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta. “We want to achieve the best and right outcome at the right time.”
That’s a stark contrast from this time last year, when the PGA Tour and PIF were operating under a self-imposed—and eventually missed—Dec. 31, 2023, deadline to come to a definitive deal after announcing a bombshell framework agreement last June. On Wednesday, Monahan reiterated his stance that he won’t negotiate in public, and he offered few details about where talks with the PIF stand.
The PGA Tour has already released its 2025 schedule. LIV Golf will conclude its 2024 season with two events in Chicago and Dallas next month.
Time for Payday
The Tour Championship will pay out nearly $83 million to its 30-player field, part of the $100 million FedExCup Playoffs bonus. Once again using a staggered start based on performance during the regular season and two previous playoff events, here are the top five and what they would earn if they finished status quo:
- 1st: Scottie Scheffler (-10), $25 million
- 2nd: Xander Schauffele (-8), $12.5 million
- 3rd: Hideki Matsuyama (-7), $7.5 million
- 4th: Keegan Bradley (-6), $6 million
- 5th: Ludvig Åberg (-5), $5 million
The remaining 25 players will start between -4 and even par. The top 12 players will all earn at least $1 million, and last place still gets $550,000—typically a payment reserved for a top-five finish at many Tour events.
