PGA Tour's Jay Monahan told misleading language led Jon Rahm to LIV Golf

DP World Tour golfer Eddie Pepperell has cast doubts on PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan's negotiation tactics with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia (PIF), putting a spotlight on the prolonged tension between the PGA Tour and the Saudi-backed LIV Golf series.

Despite Monahan having initially resisted the new series , the PGA announced a 'framework agreement' signaling possible cooperation which, over a year later, hasn't been finalized , leaving pro golf hanging in uncertainty.

Last year, Monahan seemed to indicate an impending resolution to the disputes, but Pepperell, during an appearance on The Chipping Forecast , now questions if that was a misstep.

"I was thinking about this earlier," Pepperell said. "I just think the language that was used in hindsight by Jay Monahan was wrong.

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"To call it a framework agreement I think suggested something that really wasn't there. I don't think it was much of an agreement at all."

The result, according to the English golfer, could have influenced players like Jon Rahm and Tyrell Hatton to join LIV Golf, as a supposed peace deal seemed within reach.

"Really all that was agreed was to stop suing one another," he added. "Out of that language came Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton, players like that looking and thinking 'oh, something's in the pipeline'. I wonder if they regret using the language they used. It's going to be interesting to see."

Updates on the deal have been few and far between lately . Initially, it was announced last year that both the PGA Tour and the Saudi fund aimed to finalize their agreement by December 31, 2023, but this deadline has evidently not been met.

Speaking before the recent FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis, Monahan shared his perspective on the ongoing talks at TPC Southwind: "They're very complicated discussions. There's a lot of elements to them," he said.

"When you have the level of interaction, we're continuing to meet and move forward and discuss and debate, you can't be anything but hopeful. As it relates to times and timeframes and where we are, I'll just say we're in a good place with the conversations. That's the most important thing.

Tiger Woods, who has been a key figure in representing players' interests during negotiations, shared his optimism at last month's Open Championship. Speaking from Royal Troon, Woods revealed: "We're making progress. I can't tell you more than that just because we're not going to negotiate on the outside. We've got to keep everything at a high level and private, but things are moving and things are changing. It's evolving each and every day.

"There's e-mails and chains and texts and ideas that we bounce back and forth from both sides. There's a good interchange of ideas and thoughts of how the game could look like going forward. It's just a matter of putting that all together legally."