PGA Tour commissioner, LIV Golf financial backer to play alongside Rory McIlroy this week on DP World Tour

Will (at least) 54 holes of golf help move the framework agreement closer to reality?

PGA Tour commissioner and PGA Tour Enterprises chief executive officer Jay Monahan is set to meet this week with Yasir Al-Rumayyan, governor of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, on the golf course. The two men, who are more than well-equipped in board rooms, may indeed be the headliners inside the ropes despite playing in a tournament that will feature the likes of PGA Tour's Rory McIlroy and Billy Horschel along with LIV Golf stars Jon Rahm and Brooks Koepka.

The 2024 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship serves as a melting pot for the world's best players this week as an influx of 14 LIV Golf members are slated to play in the DP World Tour's annual pro-am that cycles through Carnoustie, Kingsbarns Golf Links and the Old Course at St. Andrews. More than that, it will be the grounds for what could be with two of golf's most influential figures (Monahan and Al-Rumayyan) paired together in Thursday's first round.

Monahan will play alongside Horschel, while Al-Rumayyan tees it up with Dean Burmester. In the group behind, McIlroy will play with his father while Louis Oosthuizen is paired with South African businessman Johann Rupert. Each duo will play at least once at each of the three golf courses before a cut is made after 54 holes. That is notable because the McIlroys will be paired with Monahan and Horschel on Friday before linking with Al-Rumayyan and Burmester on Saturday.

The PGA Tour and PIF have previously discussed an injection of more than $1 billion into PGA Tour Enterprises, the organization's for-profit arm established last summer following the June 6 announcement of a framework agreement between the two parties. The originally stated goal of negotiations was to effectively bring both the PGA Tour and LIV Golf under the same banner in an effort to reunite professional golf.

The two parties reportedly met over multiple days in New York City last month to advance discussions towards a potential agreement.

"We have the right people at the table with the right mindset," Monahan said at the Tour Championship. "I see that in all of these conversations, and that's both sides. That creates optimism about the future and our ability to come together. But at the same time, these conversations are complex. They're going to take time. They have taken time, and they will continue to take time. 

"As I sit here today, I think the most important thing for us and our obligations to our fans, our players and our partners is to focus on what we control, which we're doing, as I outlined, and to continue to carry this momentum forward. But I'm not going to negotiate details in public or disclose details or specifics. All I can say is that conversations continue, and they're productive."