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The PGA Tour and the DP World Tour have made a deal that brings the Asian Tour closer to them and further away from LIV Golf. Open champion Ryan Fox believes this is an important step for the future of golf.
The Both Tour announced a new multi-year partnership with the Asian Tour on Tuesday, July 21, 2026. The agreement took effect immediately and will run until at least 2029.
Fox, who won The Open Championship at Royal Birkdale days earlier, was asked about the deal on The Pat McAfee Show the same day.
Fox didn’t need time to think about it. “That’s huge for golf,” he told The Pat McAfee Show on July 21. “There’s a lot of good players from around the world, and to have that pathway now from the Asian Tour is amazing. I think it’s going to be great for golf going forward to have the tours working together like that.”
Fox is well placed to comment. He has played on the PGA Tour, the DP World Tour and the Asian Tour, one of very few players with competitive experience across all three circuits. His perspective on what the pathway means for international players carries weight.
As part of the agreement, the best players on the Asian Tour will get a chance to play on the DP World Tour or the HotelPlanner Tour. The tours will announce the full details later this year.
The DP World Tour will also start co-sanctioning some Asian Tour events again from 2027. At least two tournaments each year will be co-sanctioned through 2029.
The Asian Tour had previously partnered with LIV Golf, which invested $300 million to create the International Series, a set of 10 lucrative events with purses of at least $2 million each. The new partnership redirects the Asian Tour’s top talent toward the established global tours.
Fox has played on the PGA Tour, the DP World Tour and the Asian Tour, giving him firsthand experience of the pathway system the partnership is designed to strengthen.
What the partnership means for International golf’s future
PGA Tour senior vice president of international Christian Hardy said in a release, per PGA Tour, “This agreement is another example of what can be accomplished when organizations come together with a shared vision for the future of professional golf.”
The pathway structure gives Asian Tour players a formal route to the DP World Tour from 2027. The DP World Tour had previously co-sanctioned Asian Tour events between 2016 and 2021 before that arrangement ended.
Earlier in the same Pat McAfee Show appearance on July 21, Fox explained what the deal means from a player’s perspective.
“I have played on all three tours, which is pretty amazing,” he said. “Being an international, like there is golf is big outside of America. I know golf’s big in America, but really, like it exists out there. It does.”
The partnership runs through at least 2029. Full details of the co-sanctioned events and pathway specifics will be confirmed later this year. Is this the clearest sign yet that golf’s divided landscape is starting to pull back together?
