Revealed: The memo circulated to PGA Tour members after crunch PIF/LIV meeting
PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan has confirmed Tiger Woods and his fellow player directors have met with the chairman of LIV Golf.
PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan has confirmed Tiger Woods and his fellow player directors held a 'constructive' meeting with PIF governor and LIV Golf chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan in the Bahamas.
Woods, 48, jetted into Nassau on his private jet following the conclusion of the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass.
The 15-time major champion and his fellow player directors met with Al-Rumayyan in the Albany resort where Woods often parks his yacht Privacy.
According to Barstool Sports' Dan Rapaport, Woods played golf with Al-Rumayyan before the meeting was held.
Al-Rumayyan is the governor of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund which finances the LIV Golf League.
Related:
- Patrick Cantlay makes surprising admission ahead of PGA Tour / PIF showdown
- Rory McIlroy believes Greg Norman has done Saudi PIF governor "a disservice"
- "Let's get on with it" Adam Scott urges Tiger Woods to meet PIF and get answers
In recent months there has been significant doubts cast as to whether a peace deal can be agreed between the Tour and PIF.
LIV snatched Jon Rahm at the same time the established tour started courting interest from US-based investors.
Following the PGA Tour's $3bn investment deal with Strategic Sports Group, some high-profile players such as Jordan Spieth suggested it may not be necessary to agree a deal with the PIF.
Woods himself is also thought to be a sceptic over potential Saudi investment into PGA Tour Enterprises.
But over the weekend several players have confirmed at the very least they wanted to hear Al-Rumayyan out.
World number two Rory McIlroy claimed the meeting should have happened 'months ago'.
He also appeared to reignite his feud with Greg Norman by suggesting the two-time Open champion and LIV have done Al-Rumayyan a disservice.
A memo obtained by Ryan French aka @acaseofthegolf on X from Monahan to PGA Tour members suggested the meeting went well.
Although, unsurprisingly, the Tour are keeping details of the meeting private.
"As you may know, your PGA Tour Enterprises player directors joined me today in a meeting with Yasir Al-Rummayan, governor of the PIF," he wrote.
"The conversation throughout was constructive and represents and important part of our due diligence process in selecting potential investors for PGA Tour Enterprises.
"This mirrors the approach we employed earlier this year as we evaluated an investment offer from the Strategic Sports Group.
"During the session, Yasir had the chance to introduce himself to our player directors and talk through his vision, priorities and motivations for investing in professional golf.
"As we continue these discussions with the PIF, we will keep you updated as much as possible, but please understand that we need to maintain our position of not conduction negotiations in public.
"To that end, we will provide no further comments to media at this time.
"Please feel free to reach out to the Korn Ferry player relations to team or directly to me with additional questions.
"Thank you,
"Jay."
See the memo here:
What is the likely outcome of this meeting?
It is of course impossible to predict but in short it wouldn't be unreasonable to suggest the PIF just want a seat at the top table in men's professional golf and the PGA Tour wants to hold onto its power.
Once this is agreed, both parties can start to worry about how to reintegrate the world's best players under one roof.
Despite Scottie Scheffler's stunning victory last week at TPC Sawgrass, his triumph was achieved in the absence of some of the world's best players.
Those include the likes of Rahm, Brooks Koepka, Cameron Smith, Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau.
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