Jordan Spieth, who’s on the PGA Tour player policy board, said a deal with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is not needed following the PGA Tour’s new alliance with SSG.
— Jordan Spieth said he doesn’t believe a deal with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is necessary now that a new partnership with Strategic Sports Group could infuse $3 billion into the newly formed PGA Tour Enterprises going forward.
Spieth, who joined the PGA Tour’s player policy board following the resignation of Rory McIlroy in November, said the primary positive of a deal with the PIF, which funds the LIV Golf League, is that it could reunify golf, but he is « not sure if or how or when it would get done. »
The PGA Tour said in a news release Wednesday that the deal with SSG allows for a co-investment from the PIF, subject to all necessary regulatory approvals.
« I don’t think it’s needed, » Spieth said Wednesday. « The idea is that we have a strategic partner that allows the PGA Tour to go forward the way that it’s operating right now without anything else, with the option of other investors. »
According to a release, with SSG’s funding, 200 PGA Tour members would have access to a « first-of-its-kind » program that would allow them to become equity holders in PGA Tour Enterprises, which is a for-profit entity. The members would collectively have access to more than $1.5 billion in equity grants, which will vest over time. The size of the grants will be determined by a tiered system based on « career accomplishments, recent achievements, future participation and services and PGA Tour membership status. »
« The players are now owners, » Spieth said. « So not only do they benefit with the tour, they now are equity owners, so they want to push it themselves. They want to make the product better themselves. Not that they didn’t before, but you directly benefit from owning a piece. »
Golfer Eric Cole said the plan « sounds like a good thing » for PGA Tour members.
« It sounds like it’s something that hasn’t really been done in sports before, » Cole told ESPN.
