How a deal to shape golf's future turned cold

Just months ago, professional golf seemed to be on the brink of resolving a bitter conflict that had torn the sport apart.

- Lauren Hirsch

NEW YORK — Just months ago, professional golf seemed to be on the brink of resolving a bitter conflict that had torn the sport apart.

The PGA Tour and Saudi-backed LIV Golf circuit, rival leagues that had been feuding over stars and audience share for several years, finally submitted a proposal for a deal to the US Justice Department.

Golf executives hoped United States President Donald Trump would help move things along — and the 78-year-old was confident he could.

"I could probably get it done," he said on the Let's Go! podcast in November. "I would say it would take me the better part of 15 minutes to get that deal done."

But it is taking a lot longer.

As the Masters teed off on April 10 at Augusta National, the negotiation has essentially come to a standstill, three people familiar with the talks said.

Despite Mr. Trump's personal interventions — in February, for example, he hosted Jay Monahan, the PGA Tour commissioner, and Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the chair of LIV and the governor of the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, at the White House — the two sides appear at their greatest extremes since June 2023, when they stunned the sports world by announcing a thinly sketched deal that would bring an end to acrimonious litigation.