Washington (AFP) - US President-elect Donald Trump has met with PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and Saudi Public Investment Fund boss Yasir Al-Rumayyan, leaders of the two sides deadlocked in talks over bridging the divide in men’s golf.

The Washington Post reported on Sunday that Trump, who has hosted PGA Tour and Saudi-backed LIV Golf events on his courses, played golf with Monahan on Friday at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida.

The newspaper also said Trump then sat next to the Saudi wealth fund director at Saturday’s UFC event at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

A framework merger agreement was announced in June 2023 between Monahan and Al-Rumayyan to great controversy given talks were conducted in secrecy and Monahan had derided LIV for months to players to avoid having more stars defect to the upstart series that launched in 2022.

Talks blew past a deadline of last December and have continued with little progress since then, leaving men’s elite golf struggling to plan a future with top talent divided between PGA and LIV.

A PGA Tour spokesman confirmed the Trump-Monahan session, the Post reported. “President-Elect Trump has always been a champion of the game of golf and commissioner Monahan was honored to accept his invitation to play at Trump International,” the spokesman told the paper in a statement.

“The President-Elect and the Commissioner share a love for the game and the Commissioner enjoyed their time together,” he added.

Trump courses have hosted five LIV events since the Saudi-backed series began. PGA events had been staged at other courses Trump owns.

Negotiators for the PGA Tour include 15-time major winner Tiger Woods.

Trump said earlier this month he could help broker a deal between the two sides, saying on a podcast, “I would say it would take me the better part of 15 minutes to get that deal done.”

“I’m really going to work on other things, to be honest with you. I think we have much bigger problems than that. But I do think we should have one tour and they should have the best players in that tour.”

Rory McIlroy, who won the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai on Sunday, told reporters Trump and billionaire Elon Musk, who sat to the other side of Trump in New York, could help sort out a deal.

“He might be able to,” McIlroy said. “He’s got Elon Musk, who I think is the smartest man in the world, beside him. We might be able to do something if we can get Musk involved, too.

“Obviously Trump has a great relationship with Saudi Arabia. He’s got a great relationship with golf. He’s a lover of golf. So, maybe. Who knows? But I think as the president of the United States again, he’s probably got bigger things to focus on than golf.”

Among issues with a PGA-LIV deal are US Justice Department concerns over Saudi investments and anti-trust regulations.

LIV and the PGA Tour have already announced plans for the 2025 season.