Tiger Woods and Yasir Al-Rumayyan to tee off in The Bahamas amid PGA Tour and PIF meeting speculations
Per reports, Tiger Woods and Yasir Al-Rumayyan will tee off together in the Bahamas. This is part of the meeting between PIF and the PGA Tour as talks about the merger continue to move forward. This meeting is to involve the Player Directors, of which Woods is, and PIF representatives.
According to Mirror, Woods will host at the Albany Resort in the Bahamas, which is ordinarily the home of his Hero World Challenge tournament. The meeting was originally to take place in Florida, but Woods' influence has them moving to the Bahamas instead.
This meeting was confirmed by Patrick Cantlay, another Player Director. He's eager to get a better understanding of where the sport is and where it's heading. Most importantly, everyone wants to know what PIF's role truly will be.
The meeting will include other Player Directors, like Webb Simpson and Jordan Spieth, but it won't include Rory McIlroy. The once proud defender of the PGA Tour stepped down from his role on the board, and Spieth stepped in.
McIlroy said that he believes this sort of meeting should have taken place a while ago, but that it will "hopefully" move them towards a solution to the situation. He said (via Mirror):
"I have spent time with Yasir [Al-Rumayyan]. The people that have represented him in LIV I think have done him a disservice, [Greg] Norman and those guys. Fundamentally he wants to do the right thing."
He did concede that they're a sovereign wealth fund, and that they want to be able to invest some money and forget about it:
"They want to invest in smart and secure businesses, and the PGA Tour is definitely one of those, especially if they're looking to invest in sport in some way.”
McIlroy also said that Woods should "absolutely" be involved since he's on the Player Director board and is perhaps the most influential figure in the sport currently.
Tiger Woods didn't play in the Players Championship
Tiger Woods was aiming to be a once-monthly player on the PGA Tour. He specifically noted that in March, his desire was to play in the Players Championship. For an undisclosed reason, that did not transpire.
He missed what was an epic tournament. Scottie Scheffler shot eight under par to squeak past the competition and earn a victory, his second consecutive at the tournament. In doing so, he became the first person ever to win two in a row, something Woods hasn't done.
Whether it's because he doesn't want to risk his presence at the Masters in April or a health reason, Woods didn't play, but Scheffler's win drew comparisons to the legendary golfer.
Scheffler happily accepted the praise, but did admit that he's far behind Woods in a lot of categories and that he's not concerned with "catching" the 15-time Major winner.
Scheffler and Woods represent the best of their eras, with Woods also being one of the best regardless of era. They both now have multiple Players wins and Scheffler will continue to chase some other records of Woods.