Tiger Woods and his other PGA Tour player directors met with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) in the Bahamas as talks about a possible cooperation continue.
The PGA Tour and PIF, which funds the breakaway circuit LIV Golf, have been in talks since June of last year, but movement toward a finalized agreement has stagnated in recent months after both parties missed a deadline of December 31, 2023 to conclude the contract.
Negotiations have moved further, however, as PIF Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan came to the Bahamas to meet with PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and the tour’s six player-directors.
Woods joined the policy board in August of last year, alongside fellow major champions Jordan Spieth, Adam Scott, and Webb Simpson, as well as Patrick Cantlay and Peter Malnati.
Al-Rumayyan, the chairman of Premier League team Newcastle United, is believed to have had lengthy discussions with the six players about the logistics of a potential move, with tour manager Monahan describing the discussions as “constructive”.
“During the session, Yasir had the opportunity to introduce himself to our Player Directors and discuss the vision, priorities, and motivations for investing in professional golf,” Monahan said in a letter to players obtained by golf journalist Ryan French.
“As we continue these discussions with the PIF, we will keep you updated as much as possible, but please understand that we must retain our policy of not conducting negotiations in public. We will not provide any more comments to the media at this time.Despite rising criticism from numerous high-profile tour players, Monahan has remained tight-lipped about the contents of the ongoing negotiations with the PIF. At last week’s Players Championship, the 53-year-old stated that talks were progressing but that “several key issues” over a potential deal remained unresolved.
The PGA Tour signed an unprecedented $3 billion (£2.4 billion) investment agreement with Strategic Sports Group (SSG), a consortium of American sports franchise owners, in January of this year, with the goal of bringing PIF on board as co-investors.
Despite ongoing conversations, PIF has continued to sign some of the tour’s top players for LIV, most notably defending Masters champion Jon Rahm in December last year.
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