LIV Golf's Ian Poulter insists collaboration must be at the forefront of unification plans if the sport - at the men's pro level - is to reconvene and thrive.
PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan recently acknowledged that discussions with the PIF remain "ongoing" but that a deal is unlikely to see LIV Golf and the other leading world tours in men's pro golf join together before 2028, at the earliest.
While those talks appear to still have a long way to go before a conclusion is reached, golfers and fans alike remain free to sketch out what the future of the sport could look like in an ideal world.
Speaking exclusively to Golf Monthly at the International Series England, one of 10 elevated events on the Asian Tour that awards the rankings leader with a spot in LIV Golf League, Poulter shared how he wants to see events playing out in the next few years.
Poulter said: "Look, I think the bigger picture would be having a collaboration where the best players in the world have an opportunity to compete again with one another. How that lays itself out, we have yet to see but hopefully the game of golf will put us back in that position at some point.
Ian Poulter and his caddie James Walton
"Again, how that's going to look with the amount of events that we have on LIV and how people can perhaps cross over to both maybe PGA Tour, DP World Tour and obviously the Asian Tour, it is finding a way to make it work for everybody. Find out a way to make it right so there is going to have to be a level of compromise from all sides, to be honest, to make it work."
Since the initial June 6 agreement back in 2023, progress towards a completed deal seems to have crawled along at a snail's pace, although both sides have continued to insist that the situation remains positive.
Poulter, who is likely to turn 50 before a resolution is found, pointed out that the complexity of the entire issue means a deal was always likely to take years rather than months.
He continued: "The structure of that is quite complex and I think that's one of the issues when some people in the outside world are frustrated it's taken so long. It's not easy, there's a lot of play here to make these things work. We as players are hopeful at some point, we can find a way to figure this thing out."
Poulter - who was forced to withdraw before the start of the International Series England with an ankle issue - is expected to be back fit for LIV Golf Greenbrier this weekend, the penultimate tournament of the individual campaign.
