PGA Tour & PIF merger could set up golf 'for decades to come' - Rahm

Jon Rahm says a merger between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) should not be rushed because it has the "opportunity to set golf up in a very positive way for decades to come".

The Spaniard, 29, who has won two majors and was part of Europe's victorious Ryder Cup team in 2023, joined the breakaway LIV tour in December.

Negotiations between the PGA Tour and the PIF, which funds LIV Golf, have been taking place for nearly 12 months in an attempt to end a split in the game.

Fifteen-time major champion Tiger Woods, who is personally involved in the process, accepts that while progress has been made there is a "long way to go" to reach an agreement.

However, Rahm says he is unperturbed at the length of negotiations given what is at stake for golf.

"Some decisions and negotiations can't be taken lightly, so it should take quite a bit of time to get it done properly," Rahm said.

"I wouldn't want to see something rushed just to get a resolution. They should take their time to make this work properly.

"I don't know if that takes one, two, three, five, six years. I don't know what that might be like. But I don't feel like I'm in any rush to make something happen today.

"You need the people that do this for a living that are far smarter than I am to get together to come together to be able to make it work."

Woods, who is a member of the PGA Tour Policy Board transaction subcommitteem which is tasked with working out a deal, added: "We're working on negotiations with PIF. It's ongoing. It's fluid. It changes day-to-day. Has there been progress? Yes. But it's an ongoing negotiation so a lot of work ahead for all of us with this process.

"We're making steps. It may not be giant steps, but we're making steps. We've made some progress, yes, for sure, but there's a long way to go still."

The businessman who set up the deal, Jimmy Dunne, resigned from the PGA Policy Board on Monday saying "no meaningful progress" had been made, with multiple reports saying he was unhappy at the slow pace of talks, which have stretched well beyond last December's original deadline.

Both Rahm and Woods were speaking as they prepare to compete in this week's US PGA Championship, which starts on Thursday at the Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky.

Woods, 48, a four-time winner of the Wanamaker Trophy, also triumphed at Valhalla in 2000, on his way to becoming the only player in the modern era to hold all four major titles.

Woods, who remains the biggest draw in the game is likely to play to packed galleries when he gets under way at 13:04 BST in Thursday's first round, alongside 2011 winner Keegan Bradley and Australia’s Adam Scott.

And while he finished last of the 60 players to make the cut at April’s Masters, he remains convinced he has another title in him despite having barely played any competitive golf over the last 12 months.

"I still feel that I can win golf tournaments. I still feel I can hit the shots and still feel like I still have my hand around the greens and I can putt," Woods said.

"I just need to do it for all four days, not like I did at Augusta for only two."

The American, whose schedule has been limited since he suffered a catalogue of serious injuries in a car crash in 2021, shares the all-time PGA Tour record of 82 career wins with Sam Snead.

However, expectations of an 83rd and 16th major title are sure to be tempered by his lack of sharpness and the physical demands he will have to overcome on a course measuring 7,609 yards.

"I don't have a lot of competitive reps so I'm having to rely on my practice sessions and getting stuff done either at home or here on site. I need to be ready mentally and physically come Thursday,” he added.

"Getting around is more of the difficulty that I face day-to-day and the recovery of pushing myself either in practice or in competition days.

“This is a big golf course, and if you get in the rough here, things could get a little bit sore, but if I drive it well and do the things I need to do and what I did 24 years ago, hopefully it works.”