Tiger Woods joins secret Bahamas meeting to strike legendary Tour-PIF deal š¤ššfor moreĀ
Tiger WoodsĀ joined his fellowĀ PGA TourĀ player directors for a meeting with Saudi Arabiaās Public Investment Fund (PIF) in the Bahamas as negotiations continue over a potential partnership.
The PGA Tour and PIF, which bankrolls breakaway circuitĀ LIV Golf,Ā have been locked in negotiations since June last year,Ā although progress over a finalised deal has stalled in recent months afterĀ both parties missed a target of December 31, 2023 to complete a deal.
But negotiations have now taken a forward step after PIF Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan flew to the Bahamas to meet face-to-face with PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and the six player-directors on the tourās board.
Woods joined the policy board in August last year,Ā which is also comprised of fellow major champions Jordan Spieth, Adam Scott and Webb Simpson as well as Patrick Cantlay and Peter Malnati.
Al-Rumayyan, who is also the chairman of Premier League club Newcastle United, is said to have spoken at length with the six players about the logistics of a potential deal, with tour boss Monahan describing the talks as āconstructiveā.
During the session, Yasir had the chance to introduce himself to our Player Directors and talk through the vision, priorities and motivations for investing in professional golf,ā Monahan wrote in a letter to players as released by golf journalist Ryan French.
āAs we continue these discussions with the PIF, we will keep you updated as much as possible, but please understand we need to maintain our position of not conducting negotiations in public. To that end, we will provide no further comments to the media at this time.ā
Monahan, who has faced mounting criticism from several high-profile tour players, has continued to be coy over the specifics of the ongoing negotiations with the PIF. At last weekās Players Championship, the 53-year-old said that talks were accelerating but thatĀ āseveral key issuesā surrounding a potential deal remain unresolved.
In January earlier this year, the PGA TourĀ struck a historic $3bn (Ā£2.4bn)Ā investment deal with Strategic Sports Group (SSG), a consortium of American sports team owners, with the hope now to bring PIF in as co-investors.espite ongoing talks, PIF has continued to poach some of the tourās top talent to sign for LIV, most notably defending Masters champion Jon Rahm in December last year.