In a significant development for professional golf, the PGA Tour and the Europe-based DP World Tour have announced a multi-year partnership with the Asian Tour. This collaboration, building on their existing strategic alliance, is designed to establish a clear pathway for leading Asian Tour members and is set to run for at least the next three years. The move is widely interpreted as a further blow to the Saudi-backed LIV Golf circuit, which previously held a partnership with the Asian Tour.
The agreement, effective immediately, will see the DP World Tour returning to co-sanctioning selected tournaments with the Asian Tour from 2027. This rekindles a previous strategic alliance between the two tours that was in place from 2016 to 2021. Ben Cowen, DP World Tour Chief Tournament and Operations Officer, expressed his delight, stating in a joint press release, "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."
The Asian Tour had been a key partner for LIV Golf since before the controversial league launched its inaugural event in June 2022. Through that partnership, LIV had invested a substantial $300 million into the Asian Tour, which led to the creation of the 'International Series' – a set of ten lucrative events boasting prize purses of at least $2 million. However, Asian Tour Commissioner and CEO Cho Minn Thant indicated that the "time is now right" to collaborate with the DP World Tour and PGA Tour, aiming to enhance the Asian Tour for its members, fans, and partners.
Cho Minn Thant further elaborated on the benefits of the new alliance, stating, "Bringing the three Tours together under one partnership will increase the bandwidth of the professional game in Asia." He added that co-sanctioning events would enable Asian Tour members to compete regularly on the global stage, while also welcoming players from the other tours to their pinnacle events, showcasing the strength and diversity of golf in Asia. World number two Rory McIlroy publicly welcomed the news, writing on social media, "Positive news and great to see respective tours working together for the good of international golf."
The PGA Tour's senior vice president of international, Christian Hardy, described the three-tour alliance as an example of collaboration by tours "with a shared vision for the future of professional golf." When approached for comment regarding the new partnership, a spokesperson for LIV Golf stated they had no official statement to provide.