PGA Tour representatives including Tiger Woods and Adam Scott are reportedly attending meetings in New York with officials from the Saudi Public Investment Fund that finances LIV Golf.
Per Mark Schlabach at ESPN, sources have confirmed that a meeting was being held on Tuesday, with more to follow in the coming days.
Further evidence of the meetings came from X flight tracking account radaratlas2, which, as first reported by ESPN, showed that planes owned by 15-time Major winner Woods, Saudi oil giant Aramco and the PGA Tour landed in New York on Monday.
🚨Tiger Woods's airplane #N517TW, Saudi Aramco's #N650XA, and PGA's Tour Air #N795HG all flew to the NYC area yesterday 9/9/24. Tiger's and Aramco's are both at Newark #KEWR and PGA's landed at Morristown #KMMU pic.twitter.com/rQyW7IBMaTSeptember 10, 2024
Progress on a potential deal between the two entities has been slow, with over 15 months now having passed since the news broke that negotiations had begun.
However, over the months, there have been signs of progress, albeit sporadically. In August last year, Woods joined the PGA Tour Policy Board in the wake of the talks beginning with PIF, while at March’s Players Championship, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan revealed talks were “accelerating.”
Shortly after the TPC Sawgrass event, Woods flew into the Bahamas for talks, which he later described as “very engaged.”
In June, Woods then attended another meeting with PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan in New York along with fellow Policy Board member Scott, PGA Tour Enterprises Transaction Subcommittee chairman Joe Gorder, player liaison Joe Ogilvie and Strategic Sports Group principal John Henry. Former Policy Board member Rory McIlroy attended remotely. Afterwards, a statement from the subcommittee said “progress was made.”
After another period of silence, Monahan then revealed before August’s Tour Championship that although talks were “complex,” things were still moving in the right direction.
He said: “When you look at where we are right now, we're in regular dialogue. We have the right people at the table with the right mindset. I see that in all of these conversations, and that's both sides. That creates optimism about the future and our ability to come together.”
While the initial deadline for an agreement came and went at the turn of the year, the latest report will offer hope that the talks, which would reportedly see the PIF invest over $1bn into PGA Tour Enterprises, remain on track.
