As Tiger Woods walked into the room for his pre-Hero World Challenge press conference, the assembled media – along with interested viewers around the world – waited with bated breath for an update on his health, his views on Ryder Cup payments and, perhaps most significantly, a briefing on the state of negotiations between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s PIF.
Tiger isn’t the most loquacious of men, but I was still hoping for more.
“I think all of us who have been a part of this process would have thought it would have happened quicker than this,” Woods said. “Even if it did, we’re still at the regulations of the US Department of Justice. Even if we had gotten a deal done by now, it’s still in the DOJ’s hands. But we wish we would have had something more concrete and further along than we are right now.”
In terms of how the discussions are progressing, Woods added: “Things are very fluid, we’re still working through it, it’s happening daily. From a Policy Board standpoint or from an PGA Tour Enterprise standpoint, things are moving and they’re constructive. But yes, definitely moving.”
Woods in his press conference at the Hero World Challenge
(Image credit: Getty Images)
I’ll stop you there. Have you heard any of this before? When the surprise ‘framework agreement’ between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and PIF was announced in June 2023, the aim was for a resolution to be reached by the end of that year. We’re now 12 months beyond the initial deadline and all we’re hearing is the same old batch of non-committal platitudes.
“I think something will get done,” Woods added. “In what form or shape, I don’t know yet.” In September, Rory McIlroy, another actively involved in the discussions, said: “Hopefully we’ll be hearing some good news in the foreseeable future.” The translation? Nothing is imminent and the circus will continue to roll on.
The truth is that golf’s top players aren’t being negatively affected by the tumult. They still have tournaments to play in year-round and they’re being compensated better than ever. The divide actually helps them from a financial perspective.
The first LIV Golf event took part in 2022
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Empty words
Meanwhile, fans continue to feel more and more disengaged. PGA Tour viewing…
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