Blake Davis
Tiger Woods is seen on the golf course perhaps six times a year at this stage in his career, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t controlling the professional game behind the scenes. Ahead of the 2024 PGA Championship in Valhalla – site of his fifth major title in 2000 – Woods provided an update on ongoing negotiations between the PGA Tour and the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia.
“I think we are working on negotiations with the PIF,” Woods said. “It’s ongoing. It’s fluid. It changes day by day. Has there been progress? Yes. But it’s an ongoing negotiation, so there’s a lot of work ahead for all of us in this process. And so, we’re taking steps, and they may not be giant steps , but we are taking steps.”
Woods joined the PGA Tour’s policy council in August 2023 as part of a transparency measure following the U-turn from the June 6, 2023 announcement in which the PGA Tour agreed to operate commercially under the same umbrella as the financiers of LIV Golf. That hasn’t happened yet.
Woods’ role on the board has evolved since then, as he now also sits on the board of PGA Tour Enterprises following Strategic Sports Group’s $3 billion investment in the entity last January.
The 15-time major champion’s milestone doesn’t stop there, as Woods is also a member of the recently announced transactions subcommittee in charge of PIF negotiations. Tiger is joined on this committee by Joe Gorder, Joe Ogilvie, John Henry, Jay Monahan, Adam Scott and Rory McIlroy, who was blocked from returning to the PGA Tour policy council by a small subsection of members that reportedly included Woods (given his different views on what the future of professional gaming should be).
“It’s good to see things differently, but collectively, as a whole, we want to see what’s best for all players, fans and the state of golf,” Woods said. “How we get there is yet to be determined, but the fact that we are in this together and fighting together to make golf better is what matters.”
Someone who is no longer in this fight along with Woods and McIlroy is the man considered the original architect of the agreement between the PGA Tour and PIF, Jimmy Dunne. The Wall Street negotiator resigned from position on PGA Tour policy board this Monday, claiming that his position was “totally superfluous” since “no significant progress has been made towards a transaction with the PIF”.
“Jimmy and the amount of work and dedication he put into the board and the PGA Tour was incredible,” Woods said. “It was a little surprising that he resigned yesterday and how it all happened, but no, his role and his help, so what he was able to do on the PGA Tour was great.”
All of this happens as Tiger and his peers prepare for their second major championship of the season. Questions centering on the future of the game continue to arise as this week’s competition in Valhalla marks one of four times this year that players from the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and LIV Golf will come together and play in the same tournament.
“I think the fans are probably as tired as we are of the talk about not caring about the game of golf and not caring about the players,” Woods said. “It’s about what LIV is doing, what we’re doing, the players coming back, the players leaving. The fans just want to see us play together. How we get there is yet to be determined.”
With little progress in talks between the PGA Tour and PIF, this separation appears likely to continue for the foreseeable future. While he wasn’t willing to discuss specifics like the rest of those involved in the potential deal, Woods was able to confirm it.
“We’ve made some progress, yes, for sure,” Woods said. “But there’s still a long way to go.”
