PGA Tour, Asian Tour alliance deals blow to LIV — SkimNews
SkimNews Take
The four-year commitment funnels Asian Tour talent into the established circuit, foreclosing a recruitment channel LIV might have cultivated in emerging markets.
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- PGA Tour, DP World Tour, and Asian Tour announced a strategic alliance effective immediately through 2029, providing commercial and playing opportunities and a path for Asian Tour members to join European circuits.
- The move directly affects LIV Golf's relationship with the Asian Tour—LIV had invested $300 million to create the "International Series" with purses up to $2 million, won by players including Peter Uihlein, Carlos Ortiz, and David Puig.
- Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund has said it will no longer fund LIV after this season, with CEO Scott O'Neil working to find investors to keep the league alive for 2027 and beyond.
- The three-tour alliance is expected to include at least two co-sanctioned Asian Tour events in each of the next three years, reviving a prior DP World Tour–Asian Tour partnership that ran from 2016 to 2021.
- One day before the announcement, Canada's Mobii Systems Group sued LIV in U.S. District Court in Miami, alleging $925,100 in unpaid broadcast-technology fees plus $209,531 in lost revenue for the remaining six 2026 events.
- Rory McIlroy called the news "positive" on social media, praising the tours for "working together for the good of international golf."
Why it matters: Asian Tour members gain formal pathways to European circuits while LIV Golf—the league that poured $300 million into Asian events—loses Saudi funding after this season and faces a $925,100 unpaid-fees lawsuit. The three-tour deal directly undermines LIV's remaining commercial partnerships in the region.
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