As LIV Golf’s survival plan focuses on national opens around the world, the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour are working to extend their relationship and secure an international footprint.Golf Australia announced Tuesday that the Australian Open will be co-sanctioned by the DP World Tour and the PGA Tour through 2029, the first time the PGA Tour has partnered with Golf Australia. Much like how the PGA Tour co-sanctions the Scottish Open, this plan includes the expectation that the tour will contribute to the purse and encourage its players to play.Rory McIlroy played in the 2025 Australian Open last December and has committed to returning this year. It was won by PGA Tour rookie Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, with Australians from both the PGA Tour and LIV Golf also high on the leaderboard.National opens have become a key leverage point in recent years as LIV Golf has highlighted the desire for elite golf to travel around the globe, with successful events in Australia and South Africa. And the Australian Open is one of the crown jewels, a big-deal event in a golf-hungry corner of the world played at world-renowned courses that spectators don’t often get to see, such as Kingston Heath and Royal Melbourne. The winner of the Australian Open also receives an invitation to the Masters. Industry speculation swirled over whether LIV would attempt to partner with the event.But in the weeks since the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia announced its intention to withdraw from its investment in the rebel league, LIV canceled its June event in New Orleans and now has 47 days until its next event.Much of LIV CEO Scott O’Neil’s plan to rescue LIV and introduce private equity investment has centered on bolstering that international success —with O’Neill implying on April 16 that LIV would like to partner with national opens around the world.Two months later, the Australian Open renewed with the DP World Tour and added the PGA Tour as a partner as well. All while a source with intimate knowledge of the DP World Tour-PGA Tour negotiations says the two parties are meeting weekly to extend their “strategic alliance.” This strategic alliance started in 2020 and expanded in 2022 with the PGA Tour owning 40 percent of the European tour’s media rights arm while guaranteeing prize purses. It also includes pathways for 10 DP World Tour players to earn PGA Tour cards.The DP World Tour sanctions 17 national opens around the world, including those in Scotland, Ireland, South Africa and India.“To have a national open of the stature of the Capital.com Australian Open amongst that number and to have it commit to us for another three years is great news, and further illustrates the strength of the partnership we enjoy with Golf Australia and the PGA Challenger Tour of Australasia,” said Ben Cowen, chief tournament and operations officer for the DP World Tour, in a statement.“Today’s news also reinforces the Strategic Alliance we enjoy with the PGA Tour and the opportunity to work with them alongside the Australian organisations to help grow the stature of this tournament globally is an exciting one.”This all takes place as new PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp attempts to remodel his own tour, setting the hard deadline of a June 22 board vote to pass a revamped schedule with fewer — but more elevated — events and a hard-lined two-track structure.But Rolapp said last week before the Memorial Tournament in Columbus, Ohio, that the hope is that the tour’s new schedule, focused on February-to-August, will increase opportunities for international partnership.One key area of intrigue, according to sources, is the opportunity to use the PGA Tour’s open fall to encourage more players to play in national opens sanctioned by the DP World Tour. The Scottish Open has already demonstrated that model the week before the Open Championship, and now the Australian Open adds another.The PGA Tour and LIV’s European-born players routinely compete on the DP World Tour in the fall, including the BMW PGA Championship and Dunhill Links Championship. McIlroy, for example, has won its Race to Dubai seven times. LIV players will retain access to the Australian Open if they meet its qualifying criteria.“I think it’s more about how we work competitively,” Rolapp said. “As we think of our new schedule and as we work through that, where do some of the international events fit in? I think the 10 cards that have come from the European Tour into our tour have been successful. How do we think more about that if you could play your way into the PGA Tour from the European Tour?”This is the first major indication of Rolapp teaming with DP World Tour CEO Guy Kinnings since taking over. It also might be a sign of Rolapp’s aggressiveness.Jun 9, 2026Connections: Sports EditionSpot the pattern. Connect the termsFind the hidden link between sports terms