- Yasir Al-Rumayyan met Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley in secret visit
- The visit comes amid talks over a reunification of the sport appear doomed to fail
Political intrigue around golf’s civil war has heightened after Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the holder of Saudi Arabia’s purse strings, made a discreet visit to The Masters.
It is understood the head of the Saudi Public Investment Fund, which bankrolls the LIV circuit, was at the course on Friday and met with Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley.
While it is known Al-Rumayyan craves membership at the most exclusive club in sport, his trip to Georgia also comes at a time when talks over a reunification of professional golf appear doomed to fail.
Despite optimism at the turn of the year over a deal being reached between the PGA Tour and LIV, a meeting at the White House in February was fractious, with Al-Rumayyan depicted by multiple sources as particularly unhappy with the proposed terms.
That has exacerbated long-running rumours within the sport that the DP World Tour, formerly known as the European Tour, could be tempted to break the ‘strategic alliance’ they signed in 2020 with the PGA Tour and form their own partnership with the Saudis.
Explosive as that would be in redrawing the landscape and fault lines of golf, DP World Tour insiders insist it is unlikely.
Yasir Al-Rumayyan (centre), pictured last week, the holder of Saudi Arabia’s purse strings, made a discreet visit to The Masters
Al-Rumayyan’s visit came amid talk a reunification of professional golf appears doomed to fail
Mail Sport understands there is a break clause in the alliance that would come into effect in 2027, though European sources say there would be little merit in walking away from the Americans.
They added that one preferable option, which would come to the fore if reunification talks do collapse, involves all three of the main tours seeking a fair distribution of prime weeks for their biggest events in the absence of any equity changing hands.
That would preserve some measure of decorum between the parties, but based on the current reunification discussions, that will prove easier said than done. Indeed, the PGA Tour have already riled Al-Rumayyan in their reluctance to give up a sufficient number of prime weeks for LIV events in return for investment beyond £1billion.
The impression remains that the PGA Tour are increasing sure of their footing since receiving massive financial input from John W Henry’s Strategic Sports Group in 2024.
That has reduced the imperative to do a deal with LIV’s backers at a point when the breakaway circuit is struggling for any traction. There was hope on LIV that their new broadcasting arrangement with FOX in the United States would help alter the dynamic but their audience for last Sunday’s event in Miami was four times less than a low-key PGA Tour tournament on the same day.
