“Would like to have PIF be part of our tour,” GOAT Tiger Woods opens up about golf merger deal at Genesis Invitational

Tiger Woods has claimed that he would like to have the PIF on the PGA Tour but further said that they do not need them at the moment.

“Would like to have PIF be part of our tour,” GOAT Tiger Woods opens up about golf merger deal at Genesis Invitational

Tiger Woods (Image via Imago)

On Thursday, golf great Tiger Woods made a return to the PGA Tour. The 48-year-old’s first official start in over 10-months time came at the Genesis Invitational where he teed off with Justin Thomas and Gary Woodland. During this comeback, he was asked about a lot of things on Wednesday, a day before the event.

In this press conference, the biggest point highlighted was the ongoing PGA Tour-PIF merger deal. The Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia which backs the LIV Golf, has been talks with the tour of a potential merger. Woods has now opened up about this.

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In August 2023, Woods joined the PGA Tour policy board as their sixth player-director to speed up negotiations with the PIF. When asked about this deal, the golfer seemed in favor of a deal with them and claimed he would like to have them on the PGA Tour but also mentioned that they do not financially need them right now.

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Ultimately we would like to have PIF be a part of our tour and a part of our product...Financially, we don’t right now, and the money that they have come to the table with and what we initially had agreed to in the framework agreement, those are all the same numbers
Tiger Woods on PGA Tour’s deal with PIF as per Fox News.

These words from Woods also comes after the tour announced a historic $3 billion deal with Strategic Sports Group. This partnership of them will see golfers receive equity grants from the tour.

Tiger Woods reveals suffering from back spasm at the end of Round one at Genesis Invitational

In the first round of the Genesis Invitational, Tiger Woods finished the round while being 1-over 71. He started off in strong fashion but slowed down near the end. However, the horror moment of the day came at the final hole.

Tiger Woods
Tiger Woods (Image via Imago)

At the 18th tee, Woods would have a terrible shank. As he leaned on to drive his ball into the fairway, it ended up horribly going to the right side. Following the round, Woods admitted he was suffering from back spasm at the end of the round.

Oh definitely I shanked it, My back was spasming the last couple of holes and it was locking up.
Tiger Woods on his performance at the last few holes at the post round press conference.

At the moment, Woods is currently tied for 49th spot, just above the cut line. Fans are now eager to see how he performs in Round two on Friday with this pain in the back. Patrick Cantlay currently leads the tournament after an impressive performance on Thursday. Meanwhile, Woods’ TGL partner Rory McIlroy is having a hard time and finds himself in a venerable position in the leaderboard.

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