Ultimate goal to have PIF ‘part of our tour’: Tiger

MIAMI: Tiger Woods said the PGA Tour is in a good position with the recent investment made by the Strategic Sports Group, but that the goal ultimately remains to have the Public Investment Fund “part of our tour.”

Speaking ahead of this week’s Genesis Invitational, where he is the tournament host while also making his first start in an official PGA Tour event since last year’s Masters, Woods made his first public comments since the SSG deal was announced just more than two weeks ago.

The deal that could pump more than $3 billion into the for-profit PGA Tour Enterprises has put into question the future of the framework deal agreed to with the Saudi-backed PIF last summer. Woods took a distinctly different stance than fellow players advisory council member Jordan Spieth, who said recently that investment from PIF is no longer needed.

“Ultimately, we would like to have PIF be a part of our tour and a part of our product,” said Woods, who serves as a director on the council. “Financially, we don’t right now, and the monies that they have come to the table with and what we initially had agreed to in the framework agreement, those are all the same numbers. —Reuters