Tiger Woods joins PGA Tour board as Player Director
As the PGA Tour does damage control in the wake of its Saudi agreement, Tiger Woods has stepped in to help.
As the PGA Tour reels from blows both external and self-inflicted, tour officials have turned to a familiar face for help.
Tiger Woods has joined the tour's Policy Board as a player director, a move that should give players an influential voice at a crucial time in the tour's history. It's not walking up the 18th at Augusta National or crossing the Swilcan Bridge at St. Andrews, but Woods' arrival in the ongoing tour turmoil has to come as welcome news to players complaining they've been left out in the cold in recent months.
After more than a year spent slagging LIV Golf and its Saudi backers, the PGA Tour — specifically, a small coterie of leadership — performed a stunning about-face in early June, announcing an agreement with the Saudi Public Investment Fund that caught players all the way up to Woods by surprise.
The backlash against PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan was nuclear, and players across the tour called for everything from Monahan's job to restitution for sticking with the tour rather than jumping to LIV. The overriding concern, however, was that players felt they lacked a voice — not an ideal situation for an organization that bills itself as "for the players, by the players."
A new agreement announced Tuesday morning seeks to "ensure that the Tour lives up to its mission of being a player-driven organization," according to a news release. The tour has agreed to keep players in the loop on major decisions going forward, as well as the progress of the existing agreement between the tour and the PIF.
Woods' appointment to the board gives the players six voting voices as opposed to executives' five, which in theory would tilt the balance in favor of the players. In addition to Woods, the other players on the board are Patrick Cantlay, Charley Hoffman, Peter Malnati, Rory McIlroy and Webb Simpson.
The release attributed plenty of PR speak to Woods, but a key line is this, regarding Monahan: "He has my confidence moving forward with these changes." Monahan's job security will continue to be a focus of players incensed at how the entire agreement has unfolded, but as long as Monahan has Woods' confidence, he's safe.
In an effort to demonstrate the breadth of support and the unity of tour executives and players, the release listed all the players on board with the agreement: Woods, Cantlay, Hoffman, Malnati, McIlroy, Simpson, Jordan Spieth, Adam Scott, Rickie Fowler, Kevin Kisner, Billy Horschel, Sam Burns, Justin Thomas, Xander Schauffele, Justin Rose, Max Homa, Collin Morikawa, Will Zalatoris, Scottie Scheffler, Jon Rahm, Viktor Hovland, Matt Fitzpatrick, Cameron Young, Shane Lowry, Keegan Bradley, Brian Harman, Tom Kim, Tony Finau, Wyndham Clark, Hideki Matsuyama, Tyrrell Hatton, Jason Day, Mackenzie Hughes, Corey Conners, Maverick McNealy, Keith Mitchell, Henrik Norlander, Ryan Armour, Brice Garnett, Kevin Streelman and Tommy Fleetwood. That's an impressive leaderboard, and if the PGA Tour can keep them all pointing in the same direction, it will be both a miracle and a significant step forward for men's professional golf.
