PGA golfers share frustration as talks with new CEO Brian Rolapp on merger with LIV emerge: Report

The PGA Tour and PIF continue to negotiate regarding the merger agreed to over a year ago. They've made very little progress despite meeting at the White House with President Donald Trump and working on this for a very long time. The latest report suggests players are frustrated over the lack of progress after meeting the incoming PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp.

According to a report from Golfweek, American golfer Matt Kuchar revealed his frustration after a players-only meeting with Brian Rolapp. Despite a change in leadership, the negotiations have not exactly taken a positive turn.

Kuchar also revealed that the merger is at a stalemate right now, noting that there's "no resolution in sight." Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the head of PIF, wants LIV Golf to continue to exist with a team format, but the Tour doesn't want that.

Beau Hossler also reportedly was frustrated with players not being updated about the negotiations. He claimed they're being kept in the dark, but it doesn't seem like there's much intel for them to know.

The negotiations ground to a halt when the PGA Tour declined a multi-billion-dollar investment offer from PIF to let the two tours exist as if under the same entity. Based on that, the PGA Tour may not want LIV to continue and just wants things to mostly return to how they were before.

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PGA pro opens up on state of Tour

The negotiations between the PGA Tour and PIF don't seem to be making much progress, but the Tour itself has seemingly gotten stronger. Things are going fairly well for them lately, as Peter Malnati just pointed out.

Peter Malnati says the PGA Tour is stronger (Image via Imagn)

The golfer, at the same town hall event that Matt Kuchar and Brian Rolapp were at, said via Golfweek that he initially joined to help prevent the Tour from getting smaller and to protect opportunities for players. Neither aspect went to plan, but Malnati went on to admit that things have gotten better anyway. He said:

“But because I was on the inside and saw the thought process, saw the planning, I could see how it truly was creating a stronger Tour from both a sponsorship standpoint and an overall holistic health of the Tour standpoint, and that even though it hurts, that opportunities are gone, that is what is best for all the members to ensure the long-term health of what we're doing."

There's no telling what the future holds for the Tour, LIV Golf, and the sport as a whole. None of this was foreseen even a few years ago, but things have changed quickly in the last three years. They could change even more in the next three years as the negotiations continue and player contracts with LIV run out.

Edited by Sumeet Kavthale