Woods Takes Initiative Against LIV... Emergency Meeting with PGA Tour Players

About 20 Participants Including Justin Thomas, Rory McIlroy, and Jordan Spieth

Tiger Woods Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Taewon] Tiger Woods (USA) discussed ways to respond to the aggressive player recruitment by LIV Golf Invitational Series with major players of the U.S. PGA Tour.

On the 17th, the U.S. sports media ESPN reported, "Woods arrived in Wilmington, Delaware, U.S., and met with major players ahead of the PGA Tour BMW Championship," adding, "About 20 star players of the tour, including Justin Thomas, Rory McIlroy, and Jordan Spieth, attended."

The meeting was reportedly proposed by Woods to gather support for the PGA Tour, which is in conflict with LIV Golf over player recruitment.

Earlier, at the official press conference of the 150th Open held on the 12th of last month in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland, Woods publicly criticized players who moved to LIV Golf, saying, "I think the players who moved to the LIV series have turned their backs on the place that made them who they are today."

The LIV Golf Invitational Series, which held its inaugural event in June this year, is recruiting so-called ‘big-name’ players backed by Saudi Arabia's 'oil money.' Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson (both USA), and Sergio Garcia (Spain) have already switched to LIV Golf. There are also rumors of Cameron Smith (Australia), this year’s Open champion, transferring to LIV.

The specific details of the approximately three-and-a-half-hour meeting held at a hotel outside the tournament venue have not yet been confirmed. However, one player who attended the meeting reportedly told ESPN, "It was a good opportunity to confirm that the top-ranked players share the same opinion about the LIV series." The players who attended the meeting plan to convey their opinions to PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan later.

Meanwhile, Woods is also known to have declined an offer from the LIV series worth $700 million to $800 million.