Ian Poulter insists LIV Golf has a long-term future regardless of any proposed merger between the breakaway series and the PGA Tour.
A bitter civil war broke out in golf last year after the launch of the Saudi-backed series and the withdrawal of many big stars from the PGA Tour.
However, in June this year there was the shock announcement of a proposed merger of the PGA Tour and LIV Golf, and these discussions are still ongoing.
In the “framework agreement” between the parties at the time, there was a clause that while the deal was being discussed, LIV would not attempt to recruit other stars from its rival tour .
The merger will also see LIV Golf Chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan appointed as CEO of a new for-profit company called “PGA Tour Enterprises”, in which the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia will be a minority investor.
Poulter has dismissed suggestions that a potential merger could see LIV Golf eliminated, with Saudi Arabia having secured influence in the new company.
The 47-year-old, once one of the PGA Tour’s most high-profile defectors to LIV Golf, told the Telegraph that Al-Rumayyan had reassured him about the long-term future of their series.
“I spoke to His Excellency last week,” Poulter said at the LIV Golf Team Championship in Miami. “He told me, it doesn’t matter in 2024, 2025 – LIV will continue to grow.
‘He’s as enthusiastic as he was at the beginning of all this.
‘He loved the concept, loved the way it grew and the impact it had and is having.
‘We see it everywhere in the sports world, not just in golf.’
The Telegraph has reported that the merger of PGA and LIV is at risk of collapsing, with talks expected to conclude before the December 31 deadline.
The situation could become tense straight when the LIV 2024 qualifying event takes place in December, coinciding with the Alfred Dunhill Championship in South Africa.
Therefore, any PGA Tour member who wishes to defect will face sanctions from the governing body if they participate in a qualifying event, which is particularly relevant in relation to legal battles different management over the past 18 months.
For example, at the inaugural LIV event in June 2022, all players appearing without permission were fined £100,000 and banned from a tournament.
Reports suggest that American billionaire investors are preparing to back the PGA Tour, which could lead to a rift in relations between the parties.
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