On Tuesday, an X account that tracks plane flights around the U.S. posted that various figures in the PGA Tour-PIF negotiations had flown to New York, among them 15-time major champion Tiger Woods.
The account, @radaratlas2, reported that Woods’ private plane and a plane owned by Saudi Aramco landed at Newark International Airport in new Jersey on Monday, September 9, and another plane connected to the PGA Tour landed at a nearby airport in Morristown, N.J.
But what is everyone doing in the NYC area? An ESPN report shed some light on that question Tuesday.
ESPN’s Mark Schlabach reported Woods was among a cadre of PGA Tour officials in New York to meet with representatives of the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund, which operates LIV Golf.
Anonymous sources told ESPN that “the sides are attempting to come to terms on a deal that would inject more than $1 billion from the PIF into PGA Tour Enterprises, the new for-profit entity launched by the tour and Strategic Sports Group,” and that the meetings are expected to last multiple days.
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It’s the latest episode in the long-running negotiations between the two main parties in pro golf’s yearslong feud.
Back in June 2023, the Tour and the PIF announced a Framework Agreement to end the fighting between the PGA Tour and rival LIV Golf that has fractured the game writ large.
But the initial December 31st deadline for a final agreement came and passed, and the PGA Tour then secured significant investment from the Strategic Sports Group, which could top out at $3 billion.
At least publicly, the negotiations have appeared to be at a standstill for much of the year as the Tour and LIV continued on their separate paths.
Then in August at the Tour Championship, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said that the Tour and the PIF had been in frequent communication throughout the year, and that the desire to come to an agreement had been “enhanced” on both sides.
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“That’s a direct result of dialogue and conversation and really starting to talk about the future, future product vision and where we can take our sport,” he said. “I think when you get into productive conversations, that enhances the likelihood of positive outcomes, and that enhances the spirit of those very conversations.”
But the PGA Tour also released its full schedule for 2025, while LIV has announced its first four events for next season, and conflicts abound.
As for the players, there is some signs of the two sides coming together. Last week it was announced that PGA Tour stars Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler would face off against LIV stalwarts Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau in a made-for-TV exhibition match this December in Las Vegas.
