Miami (AFP) – Tiger Woods expressed disappointment on Tuesday at the delay in finalizing a PGA Tour-LIV Golf merger but said “things are moving” in the bid to bridge the global divide in men’s golf.
“I think all of us who have been a part of this process would have thought it would have happened quicker than this,” Woods, a vice chairman of the PGA Tour Enterprises board, said as he spoke to reporters at the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas.
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“But we wish we would have had something more concrete and further along than we are right now,” he said. “But things are very fluid, we’re still working through it, it’s happening daily. From a policy board standpoint or from an enterprise standpoint, things are moving and they’re constructive. But yes, definitely moving.”
Woods noted any agreement between the US PGA Tour and the Saudi Public Investment Fund — backers of the breakaway LIV Golf circuit — would still require approval from the US Department of Justice’s anti-trust division. “Even if we had gotten a deal done by now, it’s still in the DOJ’s hands,” he said.
A controversial framework merger agreement was announced in June 2023 by US PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan, but despite an easing of tensions between the warring factions, no deal has been finalized with the PIF headed by Yasir Al-Rumayyan.
Northern Ireland star Rory McIlroy voiced the hope last month that US President-elect Donald Trump could help end the stand-off amid media reports the PIF was prepared to invest over a billion dollars in the newly formed PGA Tour Enterprise. “I think that clears the way a little bit,” McIlroy said. “Obviously Trump has a great relationship with Saudi Arabia. He’s got a great relationship with golf … who knows?”
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