The battle between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf Series has captured headlines, and Tiger Woods has chosen his side.
The 15-time major champion was reportedly offered a deal in the “high nine digits” to join the Saudi-backed golf league, but Woods rejected the deal and has continued to back the PGA Tour amid defections. LIV commissioner Greg Norman confirmed in an interview with FOX News on Aug. 1 the details of the deal, where Woods was offered a yearly salary in the range of $700-to-$800 million.
On the defections, Woods was clear in how he felt.
“I disagree with it,” Woods said in July, as transcribed by ESPN’s Mark Schlabach. “I think that what they’ve done is they’ve turned their back on what has allowed them to get to this position.”
Phil Mickelson had signed a $200 million deal with LIV, and Open Champion Cameron Smith will reportedly join other big names like Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka and Bubba Watson as Norman has promised big-money contracts to the biggest names in golf.
That may be why Woods is reportedly scheduled to meet with several top golfers in the world at the BMW Championship in Wilmington, Delaware — the host of the second FedEx Cup playoff event that begins Thursday, according to Schlabach.
“It’s a meeting to get the top 20 players in the world on the same page on how we can continue to make the PGA Tour the best product in professional golf,” a player who was invited to the meeting told Schlabach on Monday.
PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan reportedly will also have a meeting with the golfers.
The meeting comes after a federal judge denied a temporary restraining order, preventing three LIV golfers from competing in the FedEx Playoffs. Mickelson and 10 other golfers have filed an antitrust lawsuit against the PGA.
Those against the LIV Golf Series have pointed to Will Zalatoris, who earned his first PGA Tour win at the FedEx St. Jude Championship on Sunday, as a source of what makes the PGA Tour so special. The 26-year-old showed passion, which LIV detractors believe is nonexistent in the upstart golf league.
While Woods’ recent play has not been something to celebrate, his reported show of leadership will be something to watch as the PGA and LIV continue to take shots at one another.
