Tiger Woods and other celebrities do not agree with Rory McIlroy’s belief that LIV Golf players should be allowed to rejoin the PGA Tour without faces.
The latest celebrity to disagree with Rory McIlroy about allowing LIV Golf players to return to the PGA Tour unpunished is Tiger Woods.
After choosing to join LIV Golf, players like Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, and most recently Jon Rahm were barred from the PGA Tour. The rivalry between the two tours does seem to be coming to an end after nearly two years of animosity.
In an effort to unite the professional golf industry, the PGA Tour declared in June of last year that it had begun talks with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia (PIF).
Players who switched to LIV should be able to regain their PGA Tour playing rights as part of the agreement. McIlroy was one person who had been extremely critical of the breakaway league, but in the last few months, the Northern Irishman has changed his mind.
To the extent that he feels players ought to be free to rejoin the American circuit without worrying about facing sanctions. At Pebble Beach last week, he stated, “Guys made choices to stay here, guys made choices to go and play LIV.”
“Let people who are still eligible for this tour return if they would like to play or if you would like to try something else. I believe it’s difficult to punish people. I disagree that there ought to be a penalty. Evidently, I’ve changed my mind about that because I now understand the state of golf and realize that anything less than the PGA Tour, LIV Tour, or anything else is detrimental to both parties.
“For the benefit of the game, it would be much better to be together and move forward together.” However, not everyone agrees with McIlroy’s suggestion, including Woods, his business partner and close friend. Woods is reportedly opposed to the notion of LIV players being allowed to return without facing consequences, according to Golf Digest.
It is unclear if the rebel roster players will be able to return at all at this point, as the report indicates that PGA Tour return for LIV players is not high on the negotiation priority list. The PGA Tour declared at the end of the previous month that it had reached an investment agreement, though not with PIF.
Rather, Strategic Sports Group (SSG), who plans to invest £2.4 billion ($3 billion) in PGA Tour Enterprises, was announced as the new business partner by Jay Monahan and associates. The Tour has reaffirmed that it is still in talks with the Saudi fund, but it seems like the conversations are going more slowly than initially thought.
Keith Pelley, the CEO of the departing DP World Tour, has also participated in the talks with the PIF and PGA Tour. Speaking to reporters at the Dubai Desert Classic last month, Pelley disclosed that he had postponed his Tour retirement in an attempt to see the ongoing peace accord finalized, with the Masters tournament regarded as a feasible goal.
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