Tiger Woods Sees Chance for PGA Tour-LIV Golf Talk, But First 'Greg Has to Go'
NASSAU, Bahamas — Tiger Woods believes there is an opportunity for the PGA Tour and LIV Golf to talk and end the animosity that exists in the men's pro game today.
First, the litigation between the two parties would need to cease.
And Greg Norman can’t be involved.
Like Rory McIlroy before him, Woods said Tuesday that Norman, the CEO and commissioner of the LIV Golf League, would need to be removed from his position before anything meaningful could occur.
“I think Greg has to go, first of all," Woods said during a news conference at Albany Golf Club, site of this week’s Hero World Challenge.
Woods expressed regret at his inability to play this week due to a recent occurrence of plantar fasciitis, which makes walking painful.
But in a 30-minute news conference, his first since July 15 when he missed the cut at the British Open, Woods took a majority of questions on the disruption that has occurred throughout golf this year, with the eight-tournament launch of LIV Golf and the defection of several prominent players.
“There’s an opportunity out there if both organizations put a stay on their litigation,’’ Woods said. “That’s the problem. There is no willingness to negotiate if there is litigation. Maybe there is something to be had. I think Greg has to go, first of all. And then obviously litigation against us and our countersuit against them.
“Then we can all talk clearly."
When asked how he envisioned it possibly playing out, Woods did not have an answer.
“We don't know. No one knows," Woods said. “Right now there's a lot of animosity, especially from their leadership. And they want to be a validated tour with world ranking points and they're buying up tours around the world and I don't know—I don't know what their end game is. It might be just being an official member of the golf ecosystem and being recognized with world ranking points. I think that's what their intended goal is.
“They've spent probably close to $2 billion this year. Who's to say they can't spend 4 or $5 billion next year? You know, we just don't know. It's an endless pit of money. But that doesn't necessarily create legacies either.
“You want to compare yourself to (Ben) Hogan, you want to compare yourself to (Sam) Snead, you want to compare yourself to (Jack) Nicklaus, you can't do that over there, but you can on this Tour."
Before the season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai, McIlroy—who has also called for some sort of compromise—said Norman needed to be out of the picture.
“He made his mark, but I think now is the right time to say, 'you’ve got this thing off the ground, but no one’s going to talk unless there’s an adult in the room that can actually try to mend fences,'" McIlroy said.
Norman, 67, a two-time major winner who is in the World Golf Hall of Fame, tried to start a rival tour nearly 30 years that originally had the backing of Fox Sports and buy-in from several players.
It was ultimately thwarted by then-PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem, who later launched a series of World Golf Championship events that Norman viewed as a slap to him.
For years, Norman has maintained that the independent contractor status of players on the PGA Tour should allow them to play when and where they want as long as they fulfill their tour membership obligations.
That is the basis of the lawsuit that several LIV Golf players and the league itself brought against the PGA Tour. A trial date has been set for January 2024.
At one time early in his career, Woods sought the advice of Norman, especially in his amateur days when he was playing in the Masters for the first time. For a time, they shared the same coach, Butch Harmon. But their relationship has deteriorated over the years.
Norman said earlier this month that he, too, would like the sides to talk, but put the blame on the PGA Tour.
“I think the ball is in their court now," Norman said on Nov. 2. “We have tried on many angles, many fronts. It’s very disappointing. This vitriol. This ill-will. I can tell you with my hand on my heart, all of the PGA Tour players and DP World Tour players who played with LIV ... they want to (be able to) go back and play on the PGA Tour. Some of them are now saying no. But in the beginning they all wanted to go back.
“The PGA Tour has created this angst. We did not create the angst. Why does competition create heartburn? Why the vitriol?"
Said Woods: “I think it has to start with leadership on their side. Understanding that what is happening right now is not in the best—it's not in the best fit or future for the whole game of golf. Now, what is the best way for our game to grow?
“It's not this way. But granted, you need to have the two bodies come together. If one side has so much animosity, someone trying to destroy our tour, then how do you work with that?’’