Tiger Woods has been appointed to a five-member subcommittee that will be involved in negotiations with the Public Investment Fund (PIF) as part of the PGA Tour’s efforts to strike a deal with the Saudi backers of LIV Golf, one of his first moves since being appointed to the PGA Tour board.
This development comes amid a busy day of governance for the tour.
Woods, who was appointed to the PGA board in August, is the only player-director with no term limits. He will be the sole player on the “transaction subcommittee” of the PGA Tour Enterprises board, which will handle day-to-day negotiations as PIF seeks to become a minority investor.
Joining Woods on the subcommittee are PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan, board chairman Joe Gorder, John W. Henry of Fenway Sports Group, and Joe Ogilvie, a former tour player appointed as a director liaison in March. The subcommittee will report back to the full board.
In a related development, Rory McIlroy lost the inside track on rejoining the board as Webb Simpson’s replacement when board members resisted his return. McIlroy, who had resigned from the board in November, expressed his belief that a “subset of people on the board” were uncomfortable with him returning for unknown reasons.
Simpson had offered to resign, but only if McIlroy were to replace him. However, when a player director resigns, the other players on the board must unanimously agree on a successor. The players had previously selected Jordan Spieth to replace McIlroy.
The seven current player directors—Woods, Spieth, Simpson, Ogilvie, Patrick Cantlay, Adam Scott, and Peter Malnati—serve on both the PGA Tour and PGA Tour Enterprises boards. The latter agreed to a deal with Strategic Sports Group as a minority investor, which included a potential investment of up to $3 billion.
Despite the setback, McIlroy is expected to remain involved in an unofficial capacity, given his experience and influence in the game. He has been a proponent of reunification between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf, though his suggestion that LIV players return without punishment rubbed some players the wrong way.
Negotiations between the PGA Tour, European tour, and PIF continue, with little progress reported since the framework agreement was announced on June 6. The deadline to finalize the deal is the end of 2023.
Joe Gorder, the chairman and CEO of Valero, has been appointed the inaugural chairman of the PGA Tour Enterprises board.