The PGA Tour comes to Delaware for the first time and the spotlight remains on Tiger Woods, even though he’s not loading his clubs and out of sight.
Woods was scheduled to appear at the Wilmington Country Club on Tuesday for a conclave of top players to discuss the threat to LIV Golf, the tournament circuit that is backed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, according to two people familiar with the plans. the BMW Championship.
The people spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity due to the private nature of the meeting. A person who was invited to the meeting said that the intention is to agree to face LIV Golf, in addition to supporting the PGA tour.
The meeting caused a previously scheduled Players Council meeting to be delayed by an hour.
“We will have a players’ meeting, but that is the only thing we can tell them,” said Spaniard Jon Rahm.
It was not immediately clear if PGA Commissioner Jay Monahan would participate. He met players informally last week after a federal judge rejected the request of three Saudi Super League players who wanted to compete in the PGA postseason.
Monahan also met with players a week after the US Open to discuss plans for increased tour prize pools, changes to qualifying criteria and a new schedule that will reset the season to a January start from 2024.
Woods has been adamantly opposed to the LIV Golf circuit. Rival league leader Greg Norman confirmed in an interview with Fox News last month that Woods received an offer of between $700 million and $800 million to join. Norman added that this was before he was hired to run LIV Golf.
Norman and Woods were never close, dating back to Woods’ PGA debut, immediately becoming the most impactful golf star in decades.
Woods was highly critical during the British Open last month, referring to Norman not being invited to the 150th edition of the tournament. “Greg has done certain things that I don’t think are in the best interests of our sport,” he said.
He also expressed his rejection of players agreeing to sign large bonuses to defect to LIV Golf, saying they had betrayed the tour that made them famous.