Andy Bessette knows a thing or two about negotiations. The veteran chief administrative officer and executive vice president of Travelers, the PGA Tour’s title sponsor of the Cromwell event, was in the room when the tournament secured a ‘Signature’ status until 2030. Business negotiations are many-headed monsters. And, when a sovereign wealth fund of a foreign country is involved, it just makes matters a little more complicated. 

Although Jay Monahan, the PGA Tour commissioner, has mostly been tight-lipped, Bessette believes the delay in the PGA Tour and PIF merger is in part due to the shock element attached to it. The Tour after a year of legal jousting with PIF’s product, LIV Golf, decided to bring them on board. The clandestine nature of the sensitive matter drew all the wrong eyeballs. 

Notably, Jay Monahan conceded in the Travelers Championship that both sides went back to the drawing board early this year. The Travelers executive can see the need for that. “Acquisitions in corporate America can take years. Some are quicker, some aren’t but I think, because remember how it started, PIF and the tour, from the beginning, there’s always been an opening for another investor,” Bessette was quoted by the Connecticut Post. 

The hurdles for all sides are multifaceted, and bringing the LIV golfers back into the fold is the least problematic. It’s the policy hawks in Washington who cause the headache. Rory McIlroy joked he knew more about the Department of Justice than he wanted to know. 

In February, PIF’s advisers in the country, the officials of Boston Consulting Group, McKinsey, and Teneo, claimed that they risk ‘criminal and financial penalties’ for their firm and prison time for their employees in Saudi Arabia if they comply with the demands of the Richard Blumenthal-led Senate committee of investigations and divulge minute details. Apparently, they were sued in a Saudi Court in November, that bars them from disclosing key information to the committee. 

The committee’s primary concern was foreign influence in an American institution. They worried that PIF’s $3 billion investment in PGA Tour Enterprises would give them an upper hand. The Senate committee would have preferred if Jay Monahan knocked on the doors of US investors. 

This is where Strategic Sports Group (SSG), the consortium of billionaire American sports team owners comes into the picture. SSG has invested $1.5 billion, half of the total amount, into the for-profit PGA Tour Enterprises. The involvement of John Henry, Arthur Blank, Steve Cohen, and the like also gives Bessette more hope. 

The PGA Tour and PIF will seal the deal, Bessette is confident

Since SSG’s involvement, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the PIF governor, has met the player directors of the PGA Tour and the Transaction Committee members in a span of three months. After the New York Times Dealbook reported that both parties had exchanged term sheets of the agreement, the executives of PIF traveled to New York for a face-to-face meeting. 

“I think there are some very smart people on SSG (Strategic Sports Group) and the PGA Tour working to see if this PIF thing works. I think it will get to something, I don’t know when, but I think it will get to something. I think we will get to a better place,” Bessette added.

Notably, the PIF officials and the Transaction committee members connect on a weekly basis. In fact, Monahan came to the Travelers press conference after a call with PIF officials. Compared to last year, the thirst and the zeal are unmissable. Andy Bessette has good reasons to be buoyed by hope.