Tiger Woods, along with fellow player director Adam Scott and PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan, is set to attend the White House as the mission to end golf’s civil war continues.
Talks between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, who bankroll the tour’s rival LIV Golf, have dragged on for 20 months, with the biggest hurdle presented by the US department of Justice over concerns that a collaboration would be in breach competition laws.
In the hopes of taking another step closer to re-unifying men’s professional golf, Monahan, and player directors Woods and Scott are slated to meet with officials at the presidential residence Thursday, according to ESPN.
Representatives of PIF are also expected to attend the audience with President Donald Trump, The Guardian reported.
Monahan and Scott previously met with the President on February 4 when Trump mediated a meeting between golf’s two superpowers.
The commissioner credited Trump, who took office on January 20, for the ‘productive’ crunch talks.
Tiger Woods, pictured with Kai Trump, is expected to attend a meeting at the White House
Donald Trump will reportedly host negotiations between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf’s Saudi backers PIF Thursday as talks to re-unify men’s professional golf continue
‘It was a very productive visit,’ Monahan said in advance of last week’s Genesis Invitational at Torrey Pines. ‘I think you all have been around him enough to know how passionate he is about the game of golf.
‘For him to respond to our request to sit down and talk about how we achieve what he stated publicly as a goal, which is the game of golf operating under one tour with all the top players playing on that one tour, was a great opportunity. We had a really productive conversation.
‘I think the meeting ultimately gets us one step closer to a deal being done, but there’s a lot more work to do. Hopefully you sense my enthusiasm as I talk about it today.’
LIV’s launch in 2022 has left the golf world torn in two after the Saudi-backed startup lured away some of the PGA Tour’s biggest stars with lucrative offers and mega-money prize purses.
Major champions Jon Rahm, Bryson Dechambeau, Brooks Koepka and Phil Mickelson were among those who defected to the Saudi breakaway, which features no-cut, 54-hole events.
Following months of bitter disputes and vitriolic jabs, the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and the PIF announced they had reached a framework agreement to form an alliance on June 6, 2023.
That announcement brought an end to legal battles between the parties but raised concerns in Washington from lawmakers who are mistrustful of Saudi Arabia and critical of the country’s human rights record.
While that deal expired at the end of 2023, all parties extended the deadline and as talks with the PIF dragged on, outside investor interest in the PGA Tour heated up by way of Strategic Sports Group, an investment group headlined by Fenway Sports Group.
PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan (pictured) and Adam Scott are also expected to attend
Trump awarded Woods the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2019, the highest civilian honor
Since retaking the White House, Trump has ramped up the talks to resolve the fissure in golf.
Woods, who was pictured with the President’s granddaughter Kai Trump, 17, at Torrey Pines over the weekend, provided an optimistic outlook on the negotiations.
‘I think we’re in a very positive place right now,’ Woods said during the CBS Sports broadcast of the Genesis Open in San Diego.
‘We had a meeting with the president. Unfortunately I had some other circumstances that came up but Jay and Adam, they did great during the meeting and we have a subsequent meeting coming up,’ he said.
‘I think things are going to heal quickly. We’re going to get this game going in the right direction. It has been headed in the wrong direction for a number of years.
‘The fans want all the top players playing together and we’re going to make that happen.’
The golf legend also played a round with the President before he flew to New Orleans to watch the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl.
Woods and Trump’s connection goes back many years – Trump awarded Woods the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2019, the highest civilian honor in the United States.
