Yasir Al-Rumayyan is coming back on the greens and will tee it off at the PGA Tour Champions Trophy Hassan II Pro-Am in Morocco. He’s paired with Arjun Atwal and will play on February 21. The venue for the event is Royal Golf Dar Es Salam in Rabat. Moreover, it has been known that the PIF governor will play as an amateur. Al-Rumayyan is a 12-handicap in the tournament and his tee time is 12:10 pm.
Playing in today’s PGA Tour Champions pro-am in Morocco with pro Arjun Atwal…
Yassir Al Rumayyan, a 12-handicap amateur and PIF governor pic.twitter.com/1KCa1ti3fF
— Brentley Romine (@BrentleyGC) February 21, 2024
Apart from the PIF governor, Atwal’s team will have Tarik Sijilmassi (amateur), and Mustapha Terrab (amateur). Moreover, as Rumayyan is playing in the PGA-sanctioned event, this might be seen as an update for the PGA-PIF deal, which is to be finalized by April. Thus, what is the status of the negotiations?
Will PIF-backed LIV Golf come to terms with the PGA Tour?
It was announced a few weeks ago that the PGA Tour received financial backing from the SSG, fronted by Fenway Sports Group and the cortisum of sports investors has contributed a whopping $3 billion. Moreover, a section of this money, around $1.5 billion was invested before the deal became fruitful.
Now, as this news came to light, several golfers and player directors took confidence in the fact that PIF backing might not be needed immediately and in that group, Tiger Woods also joined in.
“Ultimately we would like to have PIF be a part of our tour and a part of our product. Financially, we don’t right now, and the monies that they have come to the table with and what we initially had agreed to in the framework agreement, those are all the same numbers.”
Thus, his statements clarified that the PIF might become an addition but the PGA Tour doesn’t rely on the PIF completely. But the talks are ongoing because the PGA wants to create a pathway for the LIV golfers who are willing to come back.
Apart from the recent PGA Tour Champions Pro-Am event, this isn’t the first time Yasir Al-Rumayyan has participated in a golf event, the PIF Governor has also featured at the DP World Tour’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in the previous two years.
While this step might look like a mere hobby. However, to some people, it can indicate a possible collaboration in the future, and previously as we saw, Al-Rumayyan affirmed to the players that the LIV party is in talks with the PGA to reach a decision.
