July 21 (Reuters) – The PGA Tour and Europe-based DP World Tour announced on Tuesday a multi-year partnership with the Asian Tour that had previously served as a key feeder to LIV Golf.
Through their existing strategic alliance, the PGA Tour and DP World Tour will now partner with the Asian Tour to establish a formal pathway for the leading Asian Tour members for at least the next three years.
“Positive news and great to see respective tours working together for the good of international golf,” world number two Rory McIlroy wrote on social media.
As part of the partnership, which is effective immediately, the DP World Tour will return to co-sanctioning select tournaments with the Asian Tour from 2027 after previously linking up on a strategic alliance from 2016 to 2021.
“We are delighted to rekindle our historic relationship with the Asian Tour and indeed strengthen it with the addition of the PGA Tour to our new partnership,” DP World Tour Chief Tournament and Operations Officer Ben Cowen said in a joint press release.
The Asian Tour had previously been in a partnership with LIV Golf since before the Saudi-funded league held its inaugural event in June 2022.
Through their partnership, LIV had invested $300 million in the Asian Tour to create a set of 10 lucrative events known as the International Series and featuring purses of at least $2 million.
But Asian Tour Commissioner and CEO Cho Minn Thant said the “time is now right” to collaborate with the DP World Tour and PGA Tour to enhance the Asian Tour for its members, fans and partners.
“Bringing the three Tours together under one partnership will increase the bandwidth of the professional game in Asia,” said Cho.
“Not only will co-sanctioning events see our members competing regularly on the global stage, but we are excited to welcome players from the other Tours to our pinnacle events, which showcase the strength and diversity of golf in Asia.”
When asked for a reaction to the partnership, a LIV spokesperson said they had no official statement.
Christian Hardy, the PGA Tour’s senior vice president of international, called the three-tour alliance an example of collaboration by tours “with a shared vision for the future of professional golf.”
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in TorontoEditing by Toby Davis)
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