Officials pose for a photo after signing the global partnership agreement. From left: Ben Cowen, DP World Tour chief tournament and operations officer; Christian Hardy, PGA Tour senior vice president of international; Cho Min Tan, Asian Tour CEO; and Guy Kinnings, European Tour Group CEO. [Photo=Asian Tour]
Officials pose for a photo after signing the global partnership agreement. From left: Ben Cowen, DP World Tour chief tournament and operations officer; Christian Hardy, PGA Tour senior vice president of international; Cho Min Tan, Asian Tour CEO; and Guy Kinnings, European Tour Group CEO. [Photo=Asian Tour]

The Asian Tour has officially announced a new global partnership with the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour.

According to Golfweek and other international media Wednesday, the Asian Tour has signed a strategic partnership agreement with the PGA Tour and DP World Tour running through 2029. The agreement takes effect immediately and establishes an official pathway for top Asian Tour players to earn cards on the DP World Tour and PGA Tour beginning in 2027. Co-sanctioned events between the DP World Tour and the Asian Tour are also set to resume next year.

The announcement is expected to deal a blow to LIV Golf, which has been backed by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund. When LIV Golf launched in 2022, it invested $300 million in the Asian Tour and created the International Series, using the circuit as a key base and player pipeline. The three-tour alliance is widely seen as effectively ending the Asian Tour's existing relationship with LIV Golf.

Asian Tour CEO Cho Min Tan said the timing was right to join forces with the PGA Tour and DP World Tour for the benefit of the circuit's members, fans and partners. "By building a single partnership with the world's top tours, we will be able to dramatically expand the reach and scalability of professional golf in Asia," he said.

Leaders of the PGA Tour and DP World Tour also welcomed the deal. Christian Hardy, PGA Tour senior vice president of international, said the agreement would serve as an important step toward building a more closely connected global golf ecosystem grounded in a shared vision for the future of professional golf.

Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland, a member of the PGA Tour's player board of directors, also expressed support. "This will be a genuine foundation for globalization — ending the divisions in world golf and moving toward a broader structure of cooperation," he said.

Golf analysts say the deal marks a decisive shift for the Asian Tour, which had served as a key foothold for LIV Golf, back toward the mainstream global system. They expect the PGA Tour–DP World Tour alliance to consolidate a clear advantage in the contest for dominance over the structure of world professional golf.

For Korean players, the partnership brings both opportunity and constraint. On the positive side, it creates a direct path to the established circuits in the United States and Europe: top Asian Tour performers will receive official DP World Tour cards starting next year, giving them a platform to pursue the PGA Tour cards awarded annually to the top 10 players on the DP World Tour.

On the other hand, the route that had allowed players to move directly to LIV Golf through the Asian Tour's International Series money title and similar pathways will effectively be closed. Players who had been using the Asian Tour as a springboard with LIV Golf as their ultimate destination will find their options significantly narrowed.


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