The PGA Tour, DP World Tour and Asian Tour announced a strategic alliance on Tuesday that leaves rival league LIV Golf on the outside. Taking immediate effect through 2029, the partnership will provide commercial and playing opportunities while creating a path for Asian Tour members to join European circuits.
The announcement hits LIV Golf, which held a relationship with the Asian Tour prior to launching in 2022. While not confirmed, the new agreement appears to torpedo any previous partnership between the Asian Tour and LIV Golf.
Rory McIlroy praised the announcement on X, posting: "Positive news, and great to see the respective tours working together for the good of international golf." The Northern Irishman has been one of the most outspoken critics of the rival tour as it continues to fight for its life.
LIV Golf previously invested $300 million in the Asian Tour to create the International Series, featuring purses of up to $2m. Those events have been won by LIV players including Peter Uihlein, Carlos Ortiz and David Puig.
Bryson DeChambeau remains LIV Golf's biggest star, but the tour remains fraught with issues. The Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, the financial muscle behind LIV Golf, has stated it will no longer fund the league after this season.
Scott O'Neil, the CEO of LIV Golf, has been trying to find investors to keep the league alive for 2027 and beyond.
Details of the tour alliance
The European Tour had an alliance with the Asian Tour from 2016 until 2021 before stopping co-sanctioned Asian Tour events in 2022. Under the new alliance, the tours expect to have at least two co-sanctioned Asian Tour events in each of the next three years, while access for Asian Tour players to European and Challenge Tour events is still being worked out.
Cho Minn Thant, commissioner and CEO of the Asian Tour, welcomed the move. "We feel the time is now right to collaborate with the DP World Tour and PGA Tour to enhance the Asian Tour for our members, fans and partners," Cho said. "Bringing the three tours together under one partnership will increase the bandwidth of the professional game in Asia."
Cho added that members will benefit from global visibility. "Not only will co-sanctioning events see our members competing regularly on the global stage, but we are excited to welcome players from the other Tours to our pinnacle events," Cho said.
Legal troubles for LIV Golf
The announcement came just hours after reports that Canadian-based Mobii Systems Group sued LIV Golf in US District Court in Miami. The lawsuit alleges LIV has not paid $925,100 in fees to the company that supplies the league's "Any Shot, Any Time" technology during LIV broadcasts, and also claims $209,531 in lost revenue for the remaining six events in 2026.
ESPN reported that Nick Connor, LIV Golf's senior vice president of technology, wrote in a May 25 email to Mobii Systems that LIV would no longer use the technology after the South Korea event that ended May 31 or the remaining events on the schedule as it evaluates its business model.
Expanding global golf pathways
The PGA Tour recently announced a commercial partnership with the European tour involving the Australian Open as golf makes a push to recognize more national opens. The Masters this year added to its invitation criteria the winners of six national opens.
Christian Hardy, senior vice president of international for the PGA Tour, said the three-tour alliance was an example of collaboration by tours "with a shared vision for the future of professional golf."
"Through our strategic alliance with the DP World Tour, we have worked to build a more connected global golf ecosystem, and we are excited to welcome the Asian Tour into that effort," Hardy said. "Together, we are creating new opportunities for players, enhancing key national opens around the world and continuing to evolve and strengthen pathways to identify and develop the next generation of elite talent."
