PGA Tour pressure piled on as key sponsor sends clear message over LIV Golf

Wells Fargo Championship

The PGA Tour have come under increasing pressure to resolve the dispute with LIV Golf, with one major sponsor calling for action to "stabilise professional golf".

Mary DePaoli, the Royal Bank of Canada's (RBC) chief marketing officer, confessed that the company is having to exercise a great deal of "patience" as discussions continue over a potential merger with the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund (PIF) - the backer of LIV Golf.

Almost a year ago, the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and PIF announced they had reached a preliminary agreement for a merger, which would reunify the game after the launch of the breakaway LIV Golf in 2022, which attracted several top PGA Tour stars. However, progress has been slow, with the finer details of the deal still to be finalised despite numerous deadlines being missed.

World number two Rory McIlroy has since returned to the negotiation table, joining forces with Tiger Woods and Adam Scott on a subcommittee aiming to secure an investment deal with PIF. DePaoli stated that RBC shares the frustration of fans who are tired of the political and financial disputes that have overshadowed professional golf over the past two years, and urged for a swift resolution.

"I think we're probably all feeling the same," DePaoli said at a media day ahead of the Canadian Open later this month. "We're all experiencing this, whether it's as a sponsor or a fan or the players. We are all watching the PGA Tour, right now, try to sort through a business model that has been under some significant strain, and has still not fully resolved itself. And that's still to be determined. So, it's requiring a lot of patience.

"It's going to be really important for us to see the Tour stabilise professional men's golf. I've used the analogy, it's like they're flying the plane and building it at the same time. It's probably not too far off.

"But I think if some of these outstanding questions can resolve themselves in the short or the medium term and we can start to put some of the static and you know kind of changes that a lot of people were not too pleased with behind us, hopefully they can get professional men's golf back on track and growing in a very positive direction again."

McIlroy, who sits in second place at the Wells Fargo Championship heading into round three on Saturday, revealed he was part of a lengthy Zoom call with Woods, Scott and tour bosses last weekend with the PIF negotiations on the agenda. His appointment to the committee follows his unsuccessful attempt to rejoin the PGA Tour Policy Board this week.

McIlroy had previously resigned from the policy board in November to concentrate on his game and personal life, but was open to returning at the request of Webb Simpson last month, who offered to give up his seat so that McIlroy could lead discussions with PIF.

However, according to Golf Digest, player directors Patrick Cantlay, Jordan Spieth and Woods were not in favour of McIlroy's return given his recent resignation.

RBC, however, are clearly becoming impatient with the situation and want a resolution to the PIF talks as soon as possible, regardless of who is involved.

DePaoli added: "With partners, sometimes they go through things," and "And you've gotta weather it for as long as you can to see them hopefully get through whatever it is they're going through. Now I think golf might be as this moment in time, where, unlike a lot of other professional sports, it's going through change. It's going through transformation. A lot of other leagues and teams have gone through a lot of that over the course of their history."

She continued: "So, we're hoping that this rectifies itself soon. We're hoping that they can bring the sport together in a very healthy way that, again, benefits the players, the sponsors and the fans. If the fans are happy, we're happy. If the players are happy, we're happy. But right now, we're still seeing a little bit of flux there."