The PGA tour is in “chaos.”
Patrick Cantlay is reportedly “calling the shots” for the tour with the Dec. 31 deadline approaching to agree to a partnership with the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund, which finances LIV Golf.
It comes as the PGA Tour just received a significant blow with reigning Masters champion Jon Rahm leaving for LIV Golf and a payday estimated anywhere from $300-600 million.
“Multiple sources say Patrick Cantlay is ‘calling the shots’ for the PGA Tour,” tweeted Barstool Sports’ Dan Rapaport, who previously worked for Golf Digest and Sports Illustrated.
“Jimmy Dunne and Ed Herlihy, who negotiated the June 6 agreement, haven’t been involved in a negotiation since then. It seems the Rahm move is a sign LIV is at least prepping for a future with no deal.
“There is a sense of chaos at the PGA Tour right now. Players are very much divided about the future. Concern about what a private equity fat-trimming would mean for the entire pro golf ecosystem. Some want the PIF, some do not.”
Dunne and Herlihty are power brokers in the financial world and prominent members of the PGA Tour’s Policy Board.
Rapaport reported that the framework of the deal Dunne and Herlihy brokered with PIF, which was sanctioned by PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, was met with backlash among blindsided players.
It came after months of the PGA using the moral high ground to ban and demean players who had already defected to LIV Golf.
Rapaport reported the “deal is in jeopardy” with players re-asserting power and pushing Dunne and Herlihy out of any negotiations.
“Many tour members were irate that Dunne and Herlihy acted without the membership’s knowledge, which has led to players gaining more control of the governance structure,” Rapaport wrote.
Cantlay, one of the player directors on the policy board, is one of those who has gained control, and he reportedly would prefer a deal with the private-equity Acorn Growth Companies.
There are some on the tour, though, who are uneasy about an union with Acorn.
Cantlay has become a major voice within the game.
It comes a little less than a month after Rory McIlroy resigned from the PGA Tour policy board.
McIlroy recently told the Irish Independent his relationship with Cantlay was “average at best” and called the American a “d–k.”
McIlroy and Cantlay’s caddie, Joe LaCava, had a heated argument on the 18th green at the Ryder Cup after fans had taunted Cantlay throughout the day for not wearing a hat.