The PGA Tour and LIV Golf remain at loggerheads with one another, with no real concrete signs of a merger in place.
Phil Mickelson has an idea to merge LIV Golf and the PGA Tour, with the American having been one of the most high-profile players to leave the latter for the former.
But a PGA Tour and LIV merger may not happen, with their June 2023 framework agreement now a distant memory.
There has, however, been significant movement on both fronts in recent times, albeit from an inward-looking perspective.
Scott O’Neil has taken over from Greg Norman as LIV Golf CEO, while Brian Rolapp is now in that position on the PGA Tour.
Photo by Tracy Wilcox/PGA TOUR via Getty ImagesPGA Tour strike blow to LIV Golf with expected Trump National Doral return
And it seems that the latter has now struck a blow to the former after its reported plans for the 2026 season emerged.
As per the Sports Business Journal, the PGA Tour will add a new tournament at Trump National Doral in Miami next year.
That will mark an absence of almost 10 years for the course that houses the ‘Blue Monster’, with the tournament expected to be a Signature Event.
Various issues, including sponsorship agreements, saw the PGA Tour move the event away from the venue in 2017.
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LIV Golf then stepped up, with an event at Trump Doral in each of its first four seasons, but it won’t return next year.
Instead, the PGA Tour is expected to move in, which is a blow for LIV Golf given its popularity on the Saudi-backed tour.
It was undoubtedly one of the best events of the season and arguably on LIV Golf so far, with Marc Leishman triumphing this year after a star-studded LIV Golf Miami final round leaderboard.
Many players loved the competition, with those on the PGA Tour now likely to experience similar joy next season.
Photo by Michele Eve Sandberg/Icon Sportswire via Getty ImagesWhat is Trump National Doral’s history with the PGA Tour and LIV Golf?
The resort, which was purchased by the Trump Organisation in 2012, hosted a PGA Tour event from 1962-2016.
That was the Doral Open from its inception to 2006, before it became a permanent venue for the WGC-Cadillac Championship from 2007.
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It was then moved to Mexico City after 2016, with the venue then hosting the LIV Golf Team Championship in 2022 and 2023 before last season’s regular event.
LIV Golf was praised for its Miami scheduling, which allowed its players competing at The Masters to get in proper shape for Augusta National.
Now on the PGA Tour for 2026, the tournament is expected to take place in the week of April 27 – May 3, falling between the Zurich Classic of New Orleans and the Truist Championship.
And its reintroduction could, of course, have wider implications, with President Donald Trump seemingly set to play a key role behind any merger between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf.
