Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy as captains of LIV Golf franchises?
In the lead up to the framework agreement between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, LIV Golf proposed a plan to give Woods and McIlroy their own LIV Golf franchises and seeing them compete in up to 10 events.
Documents were released Tuesday as part of a Senate subcommittee hearing, led by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., involving Jimmy Dunne and Ron Price from the PGA Tour. Those showed plans, ultimately rejected by the PGA Tour as part of the negotiation, to make Woods and McIlroy a part of LIV Golf League.
A global “World Golf Series” was also presented, with a team event that would conclude in Saudi Arabia. On April 26, Saudi representatives shared a slideshow called “The Best of Both Worlds,” featuring a proposal of Woods and McIlroy’s involvement with LIV. The following month, both sides exchanged language that would terminate both Greg Norman and Performance54, the golf management company that helps run LIV, from all operations, according to the documents.
In a “Best of Both Worlds” presentation given to PGA Tour leaders, it was proposed that:
-Tiger and Rory would each own LIV teams.
-They’d each play in 10 LIV events.
-Yasir Al-Rumayyan would gain an R&A membership AND Augusta National membership pic.twitter.com/Cqk3B8By5k— Sean Zak (@Sean_Zak) July 11, 2023
None of the mentioned proposals were included in the initial agreement, and it unclear whether they’ll be considered down the road.