More than 18 months after the framework agreement was signed in June 2023, negotiations between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) appear to be nearing a resolution. February 2025 has been particularly eventful, including two meetings with President Donald Trump at the White House.
Amid this surge of developments, various reports have emerged across platforms. One of the most unexpected comes from Golf Channel’s Rex Hoggard, who suggests that LIV Golf players could make their return to the PGA Tour as early as next month’s PLAYERS Championship.
“I’ll go one step further,” Hoggard said, according to The Golfing Gazette. “I could say the possibility of next month with The Players Championship looming. I spoke to one LIV player who has actually heard from the PGA Tour about the possibility of showing up at the flagship event,”
However, not everyone believes this will happen immediately. Golf Magic quoted an anonymous PGA Tour player who stated that his stance, along with many of his colleagues, is to take a wait-and-see approach as developments unfold.
“All I’d say is, I don’t think that’s a likely scenario,” the unnamed player said.
During his commentary, Hoggard also weighed in on the potential inclusion of LIV Golf players in next month’s PGA Tour flagship event. A highly respected journalist, Hoggard has covered golf for over 25 years, contributing to major outlets such as Golfweek and Golf Channel.
“Let’s put that into context,” Hoggard said. “The message that sends to fans is that ‘yes, we understand you, we hear you, we know you want the game to be reunited, we know you want to see the best players from both tours playing against each other more often’. That would be a very powerful statement.”
LIV Golf players are currently barred from competing in any PGA Tour-sanctioned events. However, if this restriction were lifted, several of the league’s biggest stars—Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Phil Mickelson, Tyrrell Hatton, Dustin Johnson, and Cameron Smith—would be eligible for The PLAYERS Championship.
Discussions between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) have intensified in recent months.
PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan and PIF Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan have held at least three face-to-face meetings since last October.
Their interactions included a round of golf at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship Pro-Am, a second meeting during the Aramco Team Series Riyadh, and most recently, a high-profile meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House, attended by Tiger Woods and Adam Scott.
