LIV Golf make major business move amid PGA Tour merger talks as negotiations drag on

LIV Golf and the PGA Tour have a new shared business partner after the Saudi Arabia-backed breakaway circuit joined forces with influential sports agency CAA for business dealings amidst ongoing merger discussions with the PGA Tour.

CAA has a longstanding relationship with the PGA Tour, and Front Office Sports reports the agency will take charge of handling LIV's media rights and corporate sponsorship deals, as the league tries to build upon the foundations it laid when it launched two years ago.

Greg Norman-fronted LIV has had a dramatic and disruptive impact on professional golf, sparking a civil war against the PGA Tour. Those icy relations thawed somewhat last year when both parties announced a "framework agreement" had been reached for a merger between the tours and LIV's backer, Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund.

Tangible progress has been lacking in the 14 months since, with the four major championships remaining the only tournaments where the best players in the world compete against each other. PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan maintains that talks are very much alive while conceding there is still a considerable journey ahead.

But the PGA Tour and LIV Golf seem to be finding more common ground with a shared partner in CAA, hinting that a deal could finally be on the horizon. After all, CAA's main goal is to deliver for its clients, and it is adept at negotiating high-stakes deals.

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Monahan was asked for an update on the negotiations at the start of the FedEx Cup Playoffs at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee last week. He said: "They're very complicated discussions. There's a lot of elements to them. 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. I have a lot of meetings on the subject. I'm not going to get into the specifics of it. It's a clear focus of mine, it's a clear focus of the organization. That said, there is a lot of dialogue.''

Patrick Cantlay, a player-director on the PGA Tour Policy Board, admitted in Memphis that progress has slowed recently. He stated: "Well, it's definitely quieted down, there hasn't been as much chatter the last few months, which has been nice. I think that's just kind of the nature of it. There's going to be ebbs and flows, depending on what kind of information comes out or what announcements."

"When you say 'end in sight,' it's always evolving. The PGA Tour has always been changing and trying to evolve and get better. Depends on what you define as the finish line. But I know all of us are working incredibly hard all the time to get the best outcome.''".