Jordan Spieth provides bold Liv Golf merger prediction after Rory McIlroy rejection

Jordan Spieth believes that a peace deal between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf will make the sport “the best it has ever been,” as he provided an update on negotiations with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia (PIF). The golf world was stunned last June when the PGA Tour announced a framework agreement with PIF to resolve the split within professional golf. However, nearly a year later, the two sides have yet to finalize a deal, and doubts about the likelihood of a peace agreement have recently surfaced.

Jimmy Dunne, a key figure in the negotiations, resigned from the PGA Tour’s policy board earlier this month due to the lack of “meaningful progress toward the transaction.” Spieth, now a player director and involved in the off-course negotiations, downplayed Dunne’s claims, presenting a positive outlook on the proposed deal.

“I think the narrative that things are in a bad place and moving slowly is untrue,” Spieth said ahead of the Charles Schwab Challenge. “I know that it’s false, actually. Things are moving positively from both sides. Ultimately, we’ll end up in a place where professional golf is maybe the best that it’s ever been. Both sides believe that. Although there are always frustrations in deal-making, it’s cordial, there’s open dialogue, and it’s progressing at its own pace. Any claims to the contrary are false. So, I’m very optimistic.”

Spieth emphasized that players are starting to receive more information and will continue to do so in the coming months. Rory McIlroy, who had resigned as a player director last November, offered to rejoin the Tour’s policy board to help with the deal. However, his fellow players, including Spieth, Tiger Woods, and Patrick Cantlay, rejected this proposal.

McIlroy addressed the rejection after winning the Wells Fargo Championship for the fourth time earlier this month. “I think the conversations got pretty complicated and messy,” McIlroy said at Quail Hollow. “The way it happened opened up old wounds and scar tissue from past events.”