As the DP World Tour unveiled its 2025 schedule on Tuesday, CEO Guy Kinnings hopes the golf world looks much different for the 2026 season.
Speaking to BBC Sport, Kinnings noted that he hopes the DP World Tour has a “much different schedule” for 2026 as opposed to 2025, which is similar in structure to the 2024 season that will wrap up in Dubai this week. Kinnings, of course, is alluding to the current negotiations between the DP World Tour, the PGA Tour, and the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), as these three sides hope to reshape the professional game that has experienced quite a fracture since 2022. The PIF has bankrolled LIV Golf for almost three years, as LIV has upended the sport since staging its first event the week before the 2022 U.S. Open at Brookline.
One year after LIV’s launch, in June 2023, the DP World Tour and the PGA Tour joined the PIF in signing a bombshell framework agreement. This dropped lawsuits between all parties and set the path forward to a more concrete deal to work out all the schedules, financials, and other nuances. The original deadline for said deal was Dec. 31, 2023, but no agreement has been struck since. Yet, players and fans continue to hope for these power brokers to transform the professional game into a unified sport, with major champions competing side-by-side once more. However, it has been nearly 18 months since they unveiled the framework agreement, and the golf world is growing intolerant. Kinnings understands that frustration.
“I understand that impatience and we have to be mindful of our fans, who have been brilliant,” Kinnings said to BBC Golf Correspondent Iain Carter.
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“Golf is in such good health, but we have to work on this product. It is complicated and not as easy as everyone thinks. There are transactional elements, scheduling elements, but all the parties you would want are engaged with the right mindset and working towards it. Everyone is mindful of how important it is to get it done.”
How and when it gets done remains to be seen, although it can be further complicated by U.S. Government intervention. The Department of Justice (DOJ) is wary of this deal violating anti-trust laws. At the same time, the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI)—the oldest subcommittee within the U.S. Senate’s Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs—has held three hearings focused on the PIF and LIV Golf. The PSI’s chief concern? Saudi Arabian sport washing and the Saudi Kingdom’s growing influence among U.S. businesses, politicians, and now, the PGA Tour.
The Saudi Kingdom has a long history of human rights abuses, which include connections to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Families of 9/11 victims have been very active and engaged at these hearings while denouncing Saudi sports washing. It’s also worth noting that before the PGA Tour struck a deal with the PIF, Commissioner Jay Monahan famously said, live on the final round broadcast of the 2022 RBC Canadian Open, “Have you ever had to apologize for being a member of the PGA Tour?” That point referenced questions numerous LIV players faced about Saudi sport washing and the Kingdom’s association with the attacks. After players first joined the Saudi-backed circuit, many reporters and fans alike bombarded them with criticisms and diatribes over their decision to join a tour supported by a government that has shown immorality time and time again. Many have since denounced Monahan for his hypocrisy after he helped put together the 2023 framework agreement.
This reality only adds to the complex nature of this deal.
“We all hope there may be a different schedule in 2026, but who knows what that might be,” Kinnings added.
“We can only focus on what we can control, and that is to make the 2025 schedule as good as it can be.”
In 2025, the DP World Tour calendar will feature 42 events in 26 countries worldwide. The circuit formerly known as the European Tour will also return to Türkiye for the first time since 2019 and Austria for the first time since 2021. It will again conclude its season with two playoff events in the United Arab Emirates. Like LIV, the DP World Tour prides itself on playing all over the world and outside the United States.
Nevertheless, with all of these different variables in play, Rory McIlroy said last week that the result of the recent U.S. election could help foster a deal between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, and the PIF sooner rather than later. Kinnings more or less echoed that sentiment.
“To have a president who wants the best for the game has to be a good thing. You have to welcome that,” Kinnings said.
“It will require everyone to pull together to make sure we do the best for the game. We have to fix these things.”
The game remains fractured, but at least there is a glimpse of hope on the horizon. Then again, this is one of the most complicated deals in sports history, so it will continue to require patience from players, fans, and pundits alike.
But could there be a different schedule for the DP World Tour in 2026? And, therefore, the PGA Tour?
Absolutely.
Yet, it’s far from a guarantee.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
