December 31st is slipping through our fingers and, for now (Spanish peninsular time 19.13) there is no announcement of an agreement between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and the Saudi Public Investment Fund. The uncertainty continues. The leap into the void in world golf continues. We still don’t know what is going to happen, what calendar we are going to have from 2025, what the livers are going to be able to play, what sanctions they are going to have in the DP World Tour, we don’t know if there will be a way back to the PGA Tour, or what will happen with the world ranking… And most importantly, at this time the only thing we know is that we will only see all the best against each other in the four Majors. The outlook is uncertain and, with what we know today, sad.
It is not easy to make forecasts, talk about the future or analyse with so little information on the table, but at least we have to try. At Ten Golf we have decided to turn on this last day of the year to the opinion of one of the golfers with the most experience and weight, not only in Spain, but in world golf. He has been on the players’ councils of the circuits, has played Majors, the Ryder, has won, knows how the Tours work from the inside and always has his feet firmly on the ground. When he speaks, it is advisable to listen to him.
“From the point of view of money it is clear that individually all professional golfers have benefited more or less from the competition between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and LIV Golf. For me, the ideal situation would have been that LIV Golf from the beginning had tried in some way to participate within the ecosystem instead of entering to be the best. I’m not saying they are responsible for the current situation, but ideally we would have had a balance and so many criticisms and uncomfortable situations among the players themselves would have been avoided. Now, it has happened this way, the Saudi investment has been very strong and this will continue until the players’ contracts with LIV expire. At the same time, those who, in some way, have stayed guarding the fort of the PGA Tour or the DP World Tour are not going to understand that those who have gone to LIV return to the ecosystem with their pockets full of millions, basically because they would say: are we stupid or what. I don’t think there is an immediate solution”. The speaker is Rafa Cabrera Bello.
Having set out the situation and posed the difficulty of the arrangement, the Canary Islander delves a little deeper into the management of this crisis, which has produced opinions of all colours. “The main criticisms of the managements of the two main circuits have been due to the scarce or no information they have provided throughout this process, especially in the already famous month of June when the framework agreement was signed. I understand the players’ anger at being in the dark, but I also understand the leaders. Information is power and in a negotiation whoever reveals their cards is left in a weaker position. It was not an easy situation. If you reveal information, you put yourself in a lower position, and if you are not completely transparent, you are criticised for the lack of information. I, for one, am going to allow myself to give the benefit of the doubt to our leaders. I still think they are doing the best for the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour. From my experience, the players look out for ourselves and they must look out for the structure. I don’t believe in conspiracy theories, at least until proven otherwise”, he explains.
In this sense, Rafa does not hesitate to break a lance for Keith Pelley, CEO of the DP World Tour, and Jay Mohanan, head of the PGA Tour. “As far as my knowledge goes, I am very clear that the DP World Tour is now much better than it was five, ten or fifteen years ago. But much better. Starting from this premise, which I think is indisputable, I think we have to give them the benefit of the doubt that they are working for our best interest. I have always thought that unproven conspiracy theories are absurd because they would have no limit. Everyone can imagine what they want. Meanwhile, I prefer to stick to what I know for sure. Everyone is innocent until proven guilty and I understand that, for now, we have to be in a certain darkness”, he concludes.
We will see what happens in the next few days. The deadline for reaching an agreement, logically, has been extended. The only possible conclusion is that, obviously, the agreement is extremely difficult. “I have no idea what is going to happen. There is very little information. Anything can be expected, as we saw in the summer, but I am clear that golf is now better than a few years ago. I like the upward trend of the DP World Tour and I don’t think the PGA Tour is twenty times better”, he concludes.
