Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy to be team owners and players for LIV Golf in documents uncovered during Senate hearing, says report
The LIV Golf-PGA Tour merger continues to get more interesting, with potential new roles for Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy reportedly being revealed in the merger's review. The Senate is reviewing the merger to see if it violates anti-trust laws.
Documents released by a Senate sub-committee on Tuesday have revealed shocking new details about how the deal even came together. But the most stunning part is what the two golfers were expected to do under the new joint entity.
According to the documents, LIV Golf was hoping that Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods would serve as team members and captains for LIV under the merger.
This initially stemmed from a meeting held in London on April 24. There, reps for LIV Golf met with PGA Tour board members Jimmy Dunne and Ed Herlihy. In their presentation, LIV listed several 'proposals for consideration'.
One of them, and the most important one, stated that Woods and McIlroy would own LIV teams and play in "at least 10 events."
It makes sense why LIV Golf would target those two. They wanted both of them to come to the rebel tour from the beginning, even going so far as to offer Tiger Woods a reported $800 million to defect.
Ironically, since both turned the offers down, Woods and McIlroy became two of the most ardent supporters of the PGA Tour and loudest detractors of LIV Golf.
The presentation did specify that this and other considerations were subject to further discussion. It's hard to imagine Woods, who spoke down on LIV Golf and called for Greg Norman to be removed, and McIlroy, who has a disdain for LIV that extended beyond the merger, would agree to this.
Rory McIlroy likely wouldn't agree to captain LIV team
It's currently unclear whether or not this was a stipulation for the agreement to go through. However, since Rory McIlroy was quoted as saying that he wanted LIV to go away even after the merger, it's unlikely that he knew about this proposed role or agreed to it:
"I still hate LIV - I hope it goes away and fully expect that it does. This is the DP - PGA TOUR and PIF. I’ve come to terms with it. I’ve seen what’s happened in other sports and other businesses. I’ve resigned myself to the fact that this is what’s gonna happen.”
Right now, the merger is still technically up in the air. It's been agreed to, but pending the US Senate's review, it could be dissolved. Should they find that it creates a monopoly or violates laws, the two tours will be back to square one.
However, if that does happen, they will at least be more cordial this time around knowing they were almost partners. Also, their leaders, Norman and Jay Monahan, are on friendly terms at the very least.