Tiger Woods sides with Jordan Spieth over Rory McIlroy
Living golf legend Tiger Woods has finally broken his silence on the subject of LIV Golf players returning to the PGA Tour and Saudi investment.
There was a lot to take in from Tiger Woods' pre-tournament press conference ahead of the Genesis Invitational.
It was the first time reporters were given the opportunity to quiz Woods, 48, about the latest developments in men's professional golf.
The biggest development was undoubtedly the PGA Tour's $3bn deal with Strategic Sports Group and what that means for a potential Saudi investment in the new, for profit-entity PGA Tour Enterprises.
In recent weeks Woods' high-profile peers have turned heads with their comments on whether the established North American circuit needed or wanted to strike a deal with Saudi Arabia's PIF.
Jordan Spieth raised eyebrows when he spoke before the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, insisting the PIF deal 'is not needed' given the scale of SSG's involvement.
His comments were completely at odds with the likes of Rory McIlroy, who has accepted the Saudis' influence in global sport is now unstoppable.
As far as McIlroy is concerned, the schism in the men's game needs to end and a global tour should be created.
The Northern Irishman also stated LIV players should be able to return to the PGA Tour, should they wish to, without financial penalties.
"It's hard to punish people," McIlroy said, who resigned his position on the Tour's policy board and was replaced by Spieth.
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So how does Woods view PIF involvement?
It was interesting that Woods stayed silent in the immediate aftermath of last June's 'framework agreement' announcement with the PIF.
And he has expressed some anger at PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan over his handling of the deal.
Unsurprisingly, Woods has a similar thought process to Spieth.
"Ultimately we would like to have PIF be a part of our tour and a part of our product," he said. "Financially, we don't [need that] right now.
"The monies that they have come to the table with and what we initially had agreed to in the framework agreement, those are all the same numbers.
"Anything beyond this is going to be obviously over and above. We're in a great position right now."
Asked about the delay to the PIF's involvement, Woods said ultimately would like the PIF as part of the Tour and product.
"The PIF deal obviously is ongoing," he said. "We have solidified our agreement with SSG. PIF is ongoing and we are still negotiating."
Woods also confirmed that he has not met with LIV chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan yet.
McIlroy met with Al-Rumayyan in secret in December 2022 to ask the powerful Saudi businessman what he wanted.
Woods conceded he doesn't know what the Saudis' end goal is.
"I don't know if it's good or bad," he said. "It's an ongoing, fluid process."
Still, he believes the future looks bright.
"The consortium that they have at SSG, the partners that have come together to be a part of the group, is quite remarkable, to be honest with you, in the sports industry," he said.
"They are unbelievable leaders and at a time when we need great leaders going forward, I think this elicits that. The amazing brains, the ideas that can make this tour better… we are looking forward to that."
"We're looking at pathways back"
Woods was also asked about pathways back for the LIV players.
There is no answer right now, according to the 15-time major champion.
He said: "We're looking into all the different models for pathways back.
"What that looks like, what the impact is for the players who have stayed and who have not left and how we make our product better going forward, there is no answer to that right now.
"We're looking at a very different -- varying degrees of ideas and what that looks like in the short term, we don't know.
"We don't even know in the longer term what that looks like.
"Trust me, there's daily, weekly emails and talks about this and what this looks like for our tour going forward."
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