Tiger Woods disagrees with Rory McIlroy's LIV u-turn as doubt grows over merger

09 February 2024 , 18:54

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Tiger Woods disagrees with Rory McIlroy's LIV Golf stance (Image: Getty Images)

Tiger Woods has become the latest star to disagree with Rory McIlroy over welcoming LIV Golf players back to the PGA Tour without punishment.

The likes of Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson and more recently Jon Rahm were banned from the PGA Tour after making the decision to join LIV Golf. After an almost two-year feud, the battle between the two tours does appear to becoming to an end.

Last June, the PGA Tour announced it had entered negotiations with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia (PIF) to unify the world of professional golf.

READ MORE: Ex-Ryder Cup captain in no doubt about Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton’s LIV Golf intentions

As part of the deal, it is expected that players who made the LIV switch will be able to regain their PGA Tour playing rights. One man who had been hyper-critical of the breakaway league was McIlroy, but the Northern Irishman has softened his stance in recent months.

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So much so, he believes players wanting to make a comeback to the American-based circuit should be able to do so without the fear of being sanctioned. "Guys made choices to go and play LIV, guys made choices to stay here," he said at Pebble Beach last week.

"If people still have eligibility on this tour and they want to come back and play or you want to try and do something, let them come back. I think it’s hard to punish people. I don’t think there should be a punishment. Obviously I’ve changed my tune on that because I see where golf is and I see that having a diminished PGA Tour and having a diminished LIV Tour or anything else is bad for both parties.

Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy have become close friends in recent years (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

"It would be much better being together and moving forward together for the good of the game." Not everybody is on board with McIlroy's proposal though, including his good friend and business partner Woods. According to Golf Digest, Woods is said to be against the idea of LIV players returning without being punished.

Whether members of the rebel roster are able to return at all now remains to be seen, with the report claiming a path back to the PGA Tour for LIV players is towards the bottom of the negotiation priority list. Late last month the PGA Tour announced it had reached an investment agreement - but not with PIF.

Instead Jay Monahan and co confirmed they had gone into business with Strategic Sports Group (SSG), who are set to pledge £2.4 billion ($3bn) into PGA Tour Enterprises. The Tour has reiterated that it remains in discussion with the Saudi fund, however it is believed that talks are once again taking longer than first anticipated.

Departing DP World Tour CEO Keith Pelley has also been involved in the negotiations with the PGA Tour and PIF. Speaking to reporters at last month's Dubai Desert Classic, Pelley revealed he had delayed his departure from the Tour in a bid to see the pending peace agreement signed off, with the upcoming Masters said to be realistic target.

Joshua Lees