Patrick Cantlay has stated that a meeting between the PGA Tour and its representatives, of which Cantlay is a part due to his role on the policy board, and PIF is happening. It has been a slow process since the merger was announced, but things may finally be getting some traction.
Cantlay confirmed that a meeting was slated to take place, but he did not have any information on who was to present. He declined to say anything specific about that since he wasn’t certain.
I imagine I’ll do a lot more listening than talking. I’m excited to hear what I will learn and I’ll have a lot more information after.
Cantlay said he aims to hear what PIF, specifically Yasir Al-Rumayyan, has to say about everything. He also wants to make sure he represents the entire PGA Tour membership when he is at any meeting like this.
He went on to say he was happy this meeting was taking place:
Of course, yeah. More information is always better. I doubt we’ll get into anything substantive in the first meeting, just more of a meet and greet.
His goal, he has said, is always to represent the tour to the best of his ability. Cantlay is in favor of any deal that’s in the best interest of the entire membership, but he’s not in favor if it doesn’t fit that criteria.
Patrick Cantlay also said that he believes the future of the sport wouldn’t change dramatically from its current state if the deal fell apart and PIF was not involved in golf down the road. Thanks to Strategic Sports Group’s investment, that’s potentially true.
The future of golf has been rather murky since the merger was initially announced. Many golfers didn’t know what was happening, and the US Senate’s involvement as well as the SSG investment left them even more confused.
They’ve met with Jay Monahan, the PGA Tour commissioner, but not much has been divulged to them. This meeting should not only give them more information but give everyone a better feel about what’s happening next (and when) and what the sport will look like down the road.
It is expected that all player representatives, which also include Peter Malnati, Jordan Spieth, Webb Simpson and Adam Scott, will be there. The meeting is essentially between the most important members of the PGA Tour’s business side and the PIF.
The two parties keep blowing through deadlines, many of which are self-imposed, to get the deal done. They agreed to the framework, but there have been plenty of hurdles to clear since then.
They might not be done any time soon, but the powers that be maintain that the agreement is coming sooner rather than later. This meeting is the first major milestone towards that end, so they could finally be right on the expected timeline.
