President Donald Trump has given his thoughts on the future of golf following confirmation that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) would be pulling funding from the breakaway league at the end of the season.
Addressing reporters at the Oval Office on Thursday, Trump was asked whether the PGA TOUR should provide players who made the switch to LIV Golf a path to return.
“I do believe that all of the great golfers should be playing against each other. They were viewing something as a monopoly, but it’s swaying away. It should be the opposite of a monopoly,
“I want to see Rory [McIlroy] playing Bryson DeChambeau. I want to see big Jon Rahm playing Scottie, who is so great. Scottie Scheffler is great. They have great players on LIV, but it’s almost like people want to see that. That’s why the Masters was so good, because you saw everybody together.”
With current uncertainty over LIV Golf’s future, Trump believes that players who defected will ultimately make a return to the U.S. circuit.
“The tour wants to have the best players,” Trump added. “You can’t have the best player that they’re boycotting now. They may do something, you know, a little bit, but they’ll all be back on tour, and it’ll be great.”
His comments come on the same day that PIF affirmed “the substantial investment required by LIV Golf over a longer term is no longer consistent with the current phase of PIF’s investment strategy”
Two of Trump’s golf courses will be venue to events on both circuits in the next few weeks with the PGA TOUR’s Cadillac Championship already underway at Trump National Doral in Florida and LIV Golf Virgina taking place at Trump National Washington DC between 7-10 May.