Report: PGA Tour move to seal docs which prompted Tiger to break his silence
Attorneys representing the PGA Tour have moved to seal bombshell docs that prompted Tiger Woods to break his silence over the LIV Golf/PIF deal.
Attorneys representing the PGA Tour have filed an emergency motion to seal bombshell documents which prompted Tiger Woods to break his silence after a deal was agreed with LIV Golf's backers, according to a report.
The tranche of documents appeared to demonstrate how the the PGA Tour sought to strengthen their ties with the DP World Tour amid the growing threat of the Saudi-backed LIV Golf League in 2022.
Among the revelations in the 357 pages included a scripted call to arms PGA Tour execs wanted Woods to make in a players' meeting before the Travelers Championship.
Related: Rory McIlroy joins Tiger in exclusive club
Woods has not yet publicly commented on the stunning peace agreement between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and LIV Golf's backers, the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia.
According to a report, Jay Monahan's team scripted this speech for Tiger Woods to give to PGA Tour players before the 2022 Travelers Championship.
Read more: https://t.co/QhD3E3eVCN— GolfMagic (@GolfMagic) July 2, 2023
But he did take the time distance himself and deny knowing about the memo, writing on social media:
Some of the talking points for Woods, 47, included asserting that PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan was the 'right guy for this war', players needed to 'join the fight' and tell the Saudis to 'go F themselves'.
Other revelations in the documents, first obtained by @desertdufferLLG included:
- The PGA Tour tried to facilitate the buyout of sports agency IMG's stake in the European Tour Group by seeking private loans to cover a forecasted loss at the start of the deal
- The PGA Tour found the European Tour Group an 'underinvested and borderline distressed asset', but nevertheless wanted to strengthen itself against LIV Golf.
In response to the talking points memo released this weekend, I have never seen this document until today, and I did not attend the players meeting for which it was prepared at the 2022 Travelers.
— Tiger Woods (@TigerWoods) July 2, 2023
These documents were filed in the 15th Judicial Circuit in Palm Beach County, Florida. It is part of attorney Larry Klayman's antitrust lawsuit involving the tour.
Klayman is also representing Patrick Reed in his defamation lawsuits against multiple members of the golf media.
The attorney recently confirmed that despite the deal to foster peace between golf organisations, Reed has no plans to back down.
Now, as first reported by Sean Zak of Golf, lawyers for the PGA Tour have filed an emergency motion to seal the docs, arguing that only three of the pages aren't confidential.
See here:
The PGA Tour has filed an emergency motion to seal the documents that were made public last week in the class action suit with Larry Klayman.
Deemed confidential: Pages 3 thru 357 pic.twitter.com/MCndqRfxmo— Sean Zak (@Sean_Zak) July 5, 2023
The news comes as two high-ranking PGA Tour officials agreed to testify before a Senate hearing investigating the PGA Tour's 'framework agreement' with Saudi Arabia's PIF.
Under fire commissioner Monahan will not be there after experiencing an undisclosed medical issue on 13 June which has seen him step back from day-to-day duties.
Senior LIV execs Greg Norman and Saudi businessman Yasir Al-Rumayyan have declined to attend the hearing, citing scheduling conflicts.
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