Jay Monahan’s Deal With PIF Threatens $154B Ally & PGA Tour’s Friendship; Successful Canadian Open May Suffer

It is not the weather delay that haunts Jay Monahan for the RBC Canadian Open but a potential loss of business! It has been seventeen years since the Royal Bank of Canada started sponsoring the Canadian Open in collaboration with Golf Canada and the PGA Tour. Not just that, currently, RBC is also the title sponsor for the $20 million signature event in Hilton Head.

However, this might not be the case for the upcoming 2025 season. Surprisingly, RBC has been contemplating extending the partnership with the PGA Tour. The reason might be related to the $3 billion deal between the PGA Tour and the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia.

Jay Monahan hit back with drastic sponsorship news

Recently, RBC extended their contract with the PGA Tour in 2024, but only for the current year. The nearly two-decade-long partnership might come to an end, as a source close to the Royal Bank of Canada revealed that they are waiting to see how the new for-profit works out. So far, the PGA Tour has partnered up with Strategic Sports Group for $3 billion.

On the other hand, the Jay Monahan-led Tour has also been in negotiations with the PIF since last year for another $3 billion to boost the for-profit PGA Tour Entreprise. RBC, keeping an eye out for the new developments in the PGA Tour, as they want to weigh them out and see how they will impact their business model and the professional game of golf.

The Golf Canada CEO, Laurence Applebaum, has shared that RBC might not leave the title sponsorship in 2025. But have also hinted that there have been a few disagreements, Applebaum said, “Spent a lot of time together with both RBC and the PGA Tour and we know that those discussions will continue in real earnest.” Furthermore, he reassured that they were trying to alleviate the issues by saying, “We see a long-term, successful, history with the game — with RBC and with our future with the PGA Tour.”

In the last four years, the RBC Canadian Open hasn’t garnered as much attention from the golf world as it usually did. In 2020 and 2021, the event was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The following year, LIV Golf played its inaugural event in London, diverting the golf world. Then, in 2023, the PGA Tour merger agreement on June 6th took away the limelight. These might have prompted the bank to rethink its partnership with the PGA Tour.

If they do not renew the contract through 2025, then the Royal Bank of Canada will not be the only sponsor leaving the PGA Tour’s ship.

Wells Fargo withdraws from the PGA Tour 

The PGA Tour has been a partner with Wells Fargo for 22 years. In the 2024 season, the Wells Fargo Championship was made a signature event with the prize purse of $20 million. The high purse might have benefited the golfers; however, the changing business model of the PGA Tour did not sit well with the sponsor.

Last year, the Sports Business Journal reported that per the new business model, the Jay Monahan-led Tour would expect the sponsor to put more towards the already hefty prize purse. However, Wells Fargo suggested remaining a sponsor but wanted to drop the signature event title. The two probably were not on the same page. Later, Wells Fargo stated, “Wells Fargo is not renewing the Wells Fargo Championship as a Signature Event in 2025 and beyond.”

Other than Wells Fargo, Farmers Insurance will also pull out the sponsorship from the event after 2026.  The PGA Tour has been finding new sponsors but will they agree with Jay Monahan and his inspirations for the Tour?