Woods says PGA Tour-LIV Golf negotiations in a ‘very positive place’

Tiger Woods stated on Sunday that negotiations are progressing well toward an agreement that would heal the golf rift between the Saudi-backed rival LIV Golf and the U.S.-based PGA Tour.

In a fruitful meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump this month, Woods said, PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan and Player Director Adam Scott requested that he engage in negotiations with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.

Woods stated, “I think we’re in a very positive place right now,” during the Genesis Open in San Diego, which was televised by CBS Sports.

Our meeting with the president took place. Regretfully, I had to deal with some other issues, but Jay and Adam performed admirably in the meeting, and we will be meeting again soon,” he stated.

“I believe that things will get better soon. We will steer this game in the proper path. For some years, it has been moving in the wrong way.

“The fans want all the top players playing together and we’re going to make that happen.”

Since its June 2022 debut, LIV Golf, which offers no-cut, 54-hole competitions, has attracted some of the best stars in golf, including major champions Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau, with mega-money contracts and enormous rewards.

The PGA Tour, PIF, and Europe-based DP World Tour announced in June 2023 that they had reached a framework deal to house their commercial operations in a new company, following a year of animosity. They also set a deadline of December 31 of that year to secure a final agreement.

Although the parties’ legal disputes came to an end with that pronouncement, politicians in Washington who are wary of Saudi Arabia and its human rights record expressed worry.

The parties prolonged the deadline, and as negotiations with the PIF continued, interest from outside investors in the PGA Tour increased. One such investor is Strategic Sports Group, which is led by Fenway Sports Group.

Since its founding, LIV Golf has played on Trump-owned courses, and in 2025, it will do so once again when it holds its event at Trump National Doral in Miami from April 4-6.