Architect Of PGA Tour - Saudi PIF Agreement Resigns From Board, Explains No Progress Has Been Made
Another day, another significant story in professional golf that has nothing to do with the actual playing of the sport. Jimmy Dunne, who was one of the key pieces in the PGA Tour - Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund (PIF) framework agreement, has officially resigned from the Tour's policy board.
Dunne's resignation comes 11 months after PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan shocked the sports world on June 6 when he sat next to Saudi PIF Governor Yasir-Al Rumayyan to announce the framework agreement between the two sides.
READ: Jimmy Dunne Vows To 'Kill Them Myself' If He Finds Any Current Saudi Partners Were Involved In 9/11
Dunne was a part of the incredibly small group that negotiated the deal in which the Saudi PIF would invest more than $1 billion into a new for-profit entity called PGA Tour Enterprises. He was also an important voice in conversations that led the Saudi PIF to drop pending lawsuits against the PGA Tour.
Dunne, like his close friend Rory McIlroy, subscribes to the idea that to fix the incredibly fractured game of professional golf, all parties need to come together sooner rather than later. Based on his resignation letter, no real progress has been made on that front.
"As you are aware, I have not been asked to take part in negotiations with the PIF since June 2023," Dunne wrote in his resignation letter obtained by Sports Illustrated.
"During my testimony at the Senate hearing, I said it was my intention to cast my vote alongside the Player Directors if a final agreement was reached with the PIF. Since the players now outnumber the Independent Directors on the Board, and no meaningful progress has been made towards a transaction with the PIF, I feel like my vote and my role is utterly superfluous."
(Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Tiger Woods was added to the Tour's policy board last summer, which gave players an extra seat at the negotiating table.
"Unifying professional golf is paramount to restoring fan interest and repairing wounds left from a fractured game. I have tried my best to move all minds in that direction," he later continued.
Since the framework agreement was announced in June 2023, the PGA Tour has officially launched PGA Tour Enterprises, but only with investment from an American sports group and no involvement from the Saudis.
From a Saudi point of view, its position has only gotten stronger given that LIV Golf has continued to poach players, including then World No. 2 Jon Rahm, in the meantime.
The vast majority of all involved in professional golf agree that a coming together is needed, but the PGA Tour appears to be dragging its feet the most when it comes to actually striking any sort of deal.