Tycoon Steve Cohen says he expects PGA and LIV golfers to be reunited
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Billionaire Steve Cohen believes that the goal in golf is to reunited all players because "it's fragmented right now".
PHOTO: AFP
NEW YORK – Billionaire Steve Cohen, whose family office Cohen Private Ventures is part of the investor group that injected capital into PGA Tour Enterprises early in 2024, said he believes that the group can find a way to reunite with top golfers who have defected for LIV Golf, who are backed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign-wealth fund.
“It’s a lot of moving parts and I think we’ll get there,” he said on Nov 25 at a media event in New York, when asked to provide a status update regarding the PGA Tour.
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) started LIV Golf as a rival to the PGA Tour, luring a number of big-name players over and sparking a feud before the sides agreed to work on a deal, which has not come to fruition.
PIF has continued to discuss a potential transaction for a minority stake in PGA Tour Enterprises, Bloomberg News has reported.
“The goal is to reunite all the players – it’s fragmented right now,” Cohen added in response to the question posed by Eli Manning, co-investor with Cohen in New York Golf Club, a team competing in TGL, an indoor-golf competition to be launched in January that was founded by TMRW Sports in partnership with the PGA Tour.
“Getting to play in one tournament, one venue, whatever it is, is exciting.”
Relations between the PGA and LIV are perceived to be thawing, with PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and PIF’s Yasir Al-Rumayyan playing a round of golf together in October.
In December, Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler are set to face off against LIV’s Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau in an exhibition in Las Vegas. Other LIV golfers include Jon Rahm, Dustin Johnson and Cameron Smith.
Along with Cohen and Manning, Derek Jeter, Jimmy Fallon and C.C. Sabathia are co-owners in New York Golf Club.
Professional golfers Xander Schauffele, Rickie Fowler, Matt Fitzpatrick and Cameron Young are on the New York team, who will play in the season opener in January against the Bay Golf Club, which is backed by Marc Lasry’s Avenue Sports Fund and basketball star Stephen Curry.
Cohen, who also owns the New York Mets, has a net worth of US$14.8 billion (S$19.95 billion), according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. BLOOMBERG
