Tiger Woods and Donald Trump are golf partners in Palm Beach County, Florida, where both live.
Tiger Woods was scheduled to attend the first talks between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf but left after his mother’s death.
Tiger Woods has bounced around the country over the past week. He spent Sunday doing commentary at the Genesis Invitational in California and played Tuesday night in his TGL golf league in Florida (making a hilarious and embarrassing blunder in the process).
On Thursday, Woods was in Washington, D.C., taking part in negotiations about the stalled merger between the PGA Tour and rival LIV Golf. The meeting at the White House was reportedly spurred by President Donald Trump, a frequent golf partner of Woods’ in Palm Beach County, Florida.
The meeting included PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan and Yasir Al-Rumayyan, governor of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which runs LIV Golf. Also on hand was Adam Scott, who like Woods is part of the PGA Tour Policy Board.
Woods also appeared as part of a Black History Month event at the White House.
PGA Tour-PIF dispute
The Saudi’s PIF made waves in 2021 when it paid big money to pull some of the biggest stars on the PGA Tour away to play in its rival league. Major names such as Brooks Koepka, Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau were among those who defected. LIV Golf tried to pull Woods over, but he turned down a reported massive offer.
The PGA Tour reacted by coming out strong against the Saudi-backed league. The PIF was accused of ‘sportswashing,’ or using major investments in sports to cover up for human-rights atrocities, including the state-sanctioned murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Al-Rumayyan, the PIF governor in attendance at Thursday’s meeting, could face a lawsuit alleging he carried out the ‘malicious intent’ of ‘harming, silencing and ultimately destroying’ the family of a former Saudi intelligence chief.
Because of the different format of LIV Golf, those who left the PGA Tour were made ineligible to play in all but the major tournaments. It also meant LIV players have a much harder time climbing the official World Golf Rankings: Tyrrell Hatton is eighth, and DeChambeau at No. 13 is the only other LIV golfer in the top 50.
What did Tiger Woods say about PGA Tour-LIV Golf merger?
A merger between the two golf entities has been reportedly in the works since 2023. Woods was invited to talks between the two sides a few weeks ago, but left after the death of his mother.
‘I think things are going to heal quickly,’ Woods said Sunday at the Genesis Invitational, the tournament his foundation runs. ‘It’s been heading in the wrong direction for a number of years. The fans want all of us to play together, the top players playing together and we’re going to make that happen. It could be this year, or very soon this year.’