LIV Golf: Tiger Woods’ crunch ‘3.5 hour’ PGA tour meeting was ‘good’
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Tiger Woods’ crunch meeting with fellow anti-LIV PGA Tour pros Tuesday reportedly went well.
The star landed at Philadelphia International Airport in his private jet en route to Delaware for the discussion at the BMW Championship.
Woods took off from Stuart, Florida on Tuesday lunchtime with Rickie Fowler and two hours later had landed on the east coast, just a half an hour drive from Wilmington, Delaware, where the BMW Championship is being played later this week.
The meeting lasted 3.5 hours and was described as ‘good’ by one player, as reported by ESPN.
The outlet also reports that the meeting was aimed at getting PGA Tour players to be of like mind as the fightback against the Saudi-backed rebel event gathers momentum.
Suggestions will reportedly be raised with PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan.
Woods, whose journey was tracked by ADS-B Exchange, has reportedly turned down a huge $800million offer to join the likes of Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau on the new series.
It was reported on Monday that ‘everything is on the table’ at Tuesday’s meeting, including possible major championship boycotts and the future of PGA Tour chief Monahan.
Tiger Woods landed in Philadelphia on Tuesday afternoon, en route to the BMW Championship
An online flight tracker recorded his journey from Florida to the east coast and Philadelphia
Woods’ private jet, pictured in 2010, which flew him from Florida to Philadelphia on Tuesday
The 46-year-old American was expected to be one of the loudest voices around the table given his huge stature in the game and the respect he has from his colleagues.
Woods has been outspoken in his disapproval of defections and LIV Golf itself, far beyond his rejection of CEO Greg Norman’s $800m offer to join.
‘Greg has done some things that I don’t think (are) in the best interest of our game,’ Woods said prior to the Open Championship.
‘I know what the PGA Tour stands for and what we have done and what the Tour has given us, the ability to chase after our careers and to earn what we get and the trophies we have been able to play for and the history that has been a part of this game.
Greg Norman has become a destabilizing force to traditional golf as the CEO of LIV Golf
Woods was part of talks between the PGA’s elite as they look to gain favor over LIV
Rory McIlroy has been an impactful and defiant voice for the PGA Tour since LIV’s inception
‘I know Greg tried to do this back in the early ’90s. It didn’t work then, and he’s trying to make it work now. I still don’t see how that’s in the best interests of the game.’
As for the players who have departed the Tour, Woods had his say on them too.
‘I think that what they’ve done is they’ve turned their back on what has allowed them to get to this position,’ he added.
Former world No 1. Rory McIlroy has sided with Woods in his condemnation of the breakaway regime.
‘There’s no room in the golf world for LIV Golf,’ McIlroy told CBS Sports.
‘I don’t agree with what LIV is doing. If LIV went away tomorrow, I’d be super happy.’
Norman hasn’t taken a backwards step since becoming the Commissioner/CEO of LIV Golf
The Saudi-backed breakaway competition has caused uproar in both golfing and media circles
Woods’ arrival in Wilmington comes a week after temporary restraining orders were placed upon Hudson Swafford, Talor Gooch and Matt Jones who deserted the Tour in favor for LIV Golf, yet still wanted to play in the FedEx Cup playoffs.
Monahan will reportedly hold an altogether separate meeting with PGA members.
Meanwhile, Norman disregarded the notion of concerns surrounding LIV Golf’s viability long term.
‘I don’t wake up with any fear about what LIV is and where LIV’s going to go because LIV is the future of golf,’ he told Forbes.
‘What I do wake up in the nighttime: worrying about how the players have been treated. Simple as that.
‘LIV is the future of golf.
‘Why? Because you have these tremendous opportunities for us to [explore], from a sponsorship standpoint, a production standpoint, from a gaming standpoint, from every aspect that’s never been done in the game of golf before.’
Delaware is playing host to the second-of-three FedEx Cup playoff events, beginning Thursday.