PGA Tour, DP World Tour and Asian Tour Alliance will put pressure on LIV

LIV Golf suffered another blow when a global alliance between the leading men’s professional tours was announced.

Masters champion Rory McIlroy has welcomed the PGA Tour and DP World Tour’s partnership with the Asian Tour on the LIV circuit.

The next event, which kicks off at the JCB Club in Staffordshire on Thursday, saw LIV end Saudi Arabia’s financial backing, plowing over £3.75bn into the Kingdom’s first three years.

The PGA Tour and DP World Tour’s new partnership with the Asian Tour was confirmed during meetings at the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale last week.

“Positive news,” McIlroy said in a social media post. “It’s great to see the respective tours working together for the benefit of international golf.”

The PGA and DP World Tours already have a strategic alliance that now extends through at least 2029. That deal, which could expire next year, has been under discussion in recent months.

The Asian Tour has partnered with LIV in 2021 before the breakaway league begins next year. It provided a way to promote and land the $30m tournament in the LIV series.

Under the old deal, the top two from the Asia Tour legacy were promoted to LIV for the 2026 season.

The Asian Tour’s Saudi-sponsored international series has also provided lucrative playing opportunities for LIV’s top stars barred from the PGA Tour.

Some of the events were controversial because they were organized in Europe, breaking the traditional domain of the DP World Tour.

Effective immediately, the PGA and DP World Tours, through their existing strategic partnership, will collaborate with the Asia Tour to provide business and playing opportunities.

There will also be pathways for top golfers in Asia to qualify for the 2027 DP World Tour.

Some of the events will go back to collaborations between DP World and the Asian circuits, as was the case before the merger with LIV.