PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – When the PGA Tour Policy Board met on Monday, player director Webb Simpson listened with great intent and realized that there’s still much work to be done.
For a group that has blown through its original Dec. 31 deadline with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund by nearly two months, Simpson acknowledged that the latest meeting turned into more of “a brainstorming session.”
“How do we grow our product? How do we make the PGA Tour better? How do we increase fan engagement? How do we get more eyeballs on TV?” he said during a phone interview. “And then, obviously, what you were thinking, what I’m thinking, what everyone’s thinking in the golf world is, how does LIV and PIF fit into all this? And I think I can say fairly that most of us, if not all of us, agree that we have got to solve that problem. And we’ve got to all agree that golf will be in a better place if we can all play together again under the same umbrella. I just don’t know what that looks like, at this point.”
But he has a sense, or at least an opinion, on how LIV players could be reintegrated into the PGA Tour.
“What we’re really talking about is probably six players (who will be desirable to the Tour). The rest will have to go to Q-school or if they want to do something on the DP World Tour.”
Simpson made it clear that he couldn’t say too much about the state of negotiations, but he also believes that transparency is important and offered candid answers to several questions that give insight into the thinking of the board and the direction it may be leaning.