PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan is confident the proposed deal with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund will be completed before the end of the year.

The parties have until 31 December to negotiate a binding contract.

“There’s an intensity and an urgency [to complete the deal]. There’s a lot of good work being done,” said Monahan.

“If you saw the amount of conversation and time that the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and PIF are spending working forward from a framework to a definitive [agreement[, I think would you see the sincerity of the efforts there.

“Our commitment is to move from the divisive nature of the relationship we had to a productive one, for us to be able to make a fundamental transition to our business with the formation of the NewCo, to have an investable entity for PIF to be able to invest in that previously didn’t exist, for the PGA Tour to be in control of the future of men’s professional golf, and for us to be partners.”

Monahan was speaking at his annual news conference in the build-up to this week’s season-ending Tour Championship in Atlanta.

The 53-year-old faced calls to resign from disgruntled PGA Tour players in the wake of June’s shock announcement that put to an end the litigation between the major tours and the Saudis, and subsequently announced he was temporarily stepping away from his role to deal with mental health issues.

But Monahan said the framework agreement was not about ending costly legal cases.

“If we were going to end the litigation, we would have just announced that we were ending the litigation,” he added.

Monahan refused to be drawn on what might happen should the deal with the Saudis fall through.

“My focus is on the negotiations with PIF,” he said.

“As I sit here today, I am confident that we will reach an agreement that achieves a positive outcome for the PGA Tour and our fans. I see it and I’m certain of it. I don’t have any reason to think that we won’t be successful.”

The PIF also owns Premier League football club Newcastle United and took control of four Saudi Pro League teams – Al-Ahli, Al-Hilal, Al-Ittihad and Al-Nassr – earlier this summer.

Its increasing involvement in major sports has drawn criticism because of Saudi Arabia’s poor human rights record.