It’s been more than two years since the PGA Tour first announced its plans to merge with LIV Golf.
And yet, such a partnership has yet to be formalized, with one of the key figures in the agreement now casting doubt over whether it ever will.
Speaking to CNBC on Friday, Jimmy Dunne expressed skepticism that the partnership will come to fruition anytime soon. The former PGA Tour Policy Board member pointed to his resignation and that of ex-PGA Tour chairman Ed Herlihy as key factors in why momentum has slowed.
“If you wanted to see a deal done, probably the worst day was when the chairman Ed Herlihy and I resigned at different times because we could have gotten the deal done,” he told CNBC. “Maybe they shouldn’t get a deal done. Right now, the tour is in pretty good shape. LIV seems to be doing what they want to do. I think it’s just going to go on like this for a while.”
Although Dunne was previously an advocate for the seismic merger, he’s now of the opinion that the timing is no longer right. The Sandler Piper senior managing principal said that if a deal was going to get done, it should have been during the initial timeframe before the 2023 British Open, which was the original goal.
Dunne also noted the negative reaction to the initial merger announcement, which came after years of animosity between the two sides. He said that the blowback was “shocking” to him, stating that “all we did was really settle the lawsuits and begin discussion, but that’s what it was.”
Asked what he thinks needs to happen for the merger to get back on track, Dunne didn’t have a clear answer. But he certainly seems to believe that whatever it is, it won’t be happening anytime in the near future.
“I don’t know. As I said when I did resign and got a lot of criticism that there didn’t seem to be any progress made at that point in time and that got everybody very upset,” Dunne said. “Well, that was a year and a half ago. I don’t see any progress but maybe there shouldn’t be at this time. Let’s see how it all works out.”
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.