DP World Tour CEO Categorically Denies 'Fictitious' $1bn Golf Saudi Offer

DP World Tour CEO Keith Pelley has categorically denied the circuit received a $1 billion offer from Golf Saudi, labelling it 'fictitious'.

Speaking ahead of the Tour's flagship BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, Pelley said: "The supposed $1 billion offer that was made to us by Golf Saudi. There's only one word to describe that claim, and that is fictitious."

The DP World Tour has been criticised for failing to take advantage of the purported offer, which many viewed as a missed opportunity and attributed it to one of the reasons why its members defected to the LIV Golf Series.

Golf Saudi is backed by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, the sovereign state behind the Greg Norman-fronted venture, LIV Golf.

Pelley added: "I genuinely do not know how many times I can make this point. And you can ask any member of our board of directors, and they will unanimously confirm that it was not an offer, it was not a deal, it was merely a marketing presentation put together on behalf of Golf Saudi."

Although Pelley denied receiving an offer from Golf Saudi, he revealed that collaboration was an early approach: "I often get the question, why can't we work with both the PGA Tour and the Saudis. We tried. But the Saudis remain determined to set up a new series outside of the current ecosystem.

"That decision has created the conflict we see today and we chose to partner with the leading Tour in the game. We feel it is the right thing to do for all our members. Bringing the benefits of such an alliance to each and every one of the 326 players on the DP World Tour, not to just a small portion of the 48."

Pelley, who described the fight between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf as "Corporate America versus a sovereign state," explained the rationale for partnering with the American counterparts to combat the threat of the Saudi-backed circuit: "Some of the players have asked, well, how can you let players for years on the PGA Tour play on your Tour, but not allow LIV players to play? And I will acknowledge over time, that the PGA Tour have been a competitor but they have been a partner at the exact same time.

"They were partners in the WGCs [World Golf Championship]. They were partners in the International Golf Federation, partners in the World Golf Hall of Fame. They were competitors, but at the same time we had an understanding that we would release our players on our respective Tours."

With Pelley outlining the clear boundaries between the PGA and DP World Tour, he acknowledged how LIV Golf adopted a different approach: "LIV's first event was in our territory in the UK and there is talk and people are asking me now about Valderrama. They are talking to every one of our stakeholders, every one of our partners, every one of our broadcasters.

"You may have noticed that the Asian Tour has taken an event that we had in Morocco. So they are a competitor, and that is a different distinction than what the PGA Tour has been over many years. They were a competitor but a partner at the same time."