03 July 2023 , 11:13
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Tiger Woods has broken his silence, after leaked documents appeared to show the PGA Tour scripting comments for the 15-time major champion what to tell his fellow players in criticism of LIV Golf.
The world of golf was left in shock last month, after the PGA Tour confirmed it had reached an agreement with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia (PIF), which would see them work in partnership with the DP World Tour and bitter rivals LIV Golf. The announcement came after the Tour had spent the past 12 months at odds with the LIV setup.
Following the breakaway circuit's inception in St Albans last summer, the PGA Tour appeared to be doing everything in their power to diffuse the growth of LIV, as it emerged as a rival tour at the top of professional golf, luring away some of the biggest names in the game.
The dispute truly began last June, following the start of LIV's first ever event at Centurion, LIV London. In response the PGA Tour issued membership suspensions for any player making the decision to defect to the Saudi-funded series.
Amid their work to warn off the LIV threat, it has emerged one year on that Tour boss Jay Monahan held a player meeting at the 2022 Travelers Championship, where he discussed the consequences of making the move to LIV Golf. Per legal documents obtained by Sports Illustrated, Tour bosses appeared to have planned for Woods to speak at the meeting, and pre-scripted comments for the 82-time PGA Tour winner to relay back to his fellow pros.
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The document itself details how the PGA Tour were planning to strengthen their 'strategic alliance' with the DP World Tour, to work against the LIV Golf setup. Woods is also told by commissioner Monahan to: "Do what I did: tell the Saudis to go f*** themselves. And mean it.
Tiger Woods denied knowing about the leaked comments"Second, tell the world—over and over any chance you get—that you will be sticking with the PGA Tour because you are part of something bigger than yourself.” The prepared pointers for Woods also included high praise for commissioner Monahan, and accused LIV of trying to 'take down' the PGA Tour.
Amid the leaked document Woods has addressed the alleged script, in his first public comment since the Tour announced its decision to work with PIF. Taking to social media, the five-time Masters champion was quick to distance himself from the document. He wrote: "In response to the talking points memo released this weekend, I have never seen this document until today, and I did not attend the players meeting for which it was prepared at the 2022 Travelers."
Woods has been a public critic of LIV Golf since its inception last summer. Speaking at last year's Open Championship, Woods said: "What these players are doing for guaranteed money, what is the incentive to practice?. What is the incentive to go out there and earn it in the dirt? You're just getting paid a lot of money up front and playing a few events and playing 54 holes.
"They're playing blaring music and have all these atmospheres that are different. I can understand 54 holes is almost like a mandate when you get to the senior tour. The guys are little bit older and a little more banged up. But when you're at this young age and some of these kids, they really are kids who have gone from amateur golf into that organization, 72-hole tests are part of it.
"We used to have 36-hole playoffs for major championships. That's how it used to be, 18-hole U.S. Open playoffs. I just don't see how that move is positive in the long term for a lot of these players, especially if the LIV organization doesn't get World Ranking points and the major championships change their criteria for entering the events."