Tiger Woods is also heading into battle against LIV Golf. PGA players are threatening to boycott the majors. But they can make more money next year

There’s no fooling around now. With the lawsuits unsealed, there is open warfare between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf. The seriousness of the situation is underscored by the fact that Tiger Woods is headed to Delaware for the BMW Championship. Not to play golf, but to engage in serious discussions surrounding the newly formed rival LIV Golf Series, subsidized by Saudi public funds.

When, before the start of the first FedEx Cup playoff tournament, the PGA Tour won a court case to prevent players active in the LIV Golf Invitation from competing at Mephis, PGA Commissioner Jay Monahan said everyone could finally focus on the season’s highlights. Still, there is a lot of buzz around players defecting to competitive competition.

The PGA Tour has scheduled a meeting of the top 20 or so players in the world rankings during the BMW Championship to discuss next steps. Legend of the sport Tiger Woods is expected to attend the meeting.

According to ESPN sources, the meeting is only expected to include players who were not tempted by LIV Golf’s generous offers. It is scheduled to take place this Wednesday, around the time Jay Monahan is scheduled to speak to the players. There is even speculation behind the scenes that the current situation could cost Monahan his job.

Among the hot topics is said to be a proposal that current PGA Tour players boycott major tournaments that defectors to LIV Golf hit. All players who signed fat contracts with LIV Golf and hit its tournaments while a PGA Tour event was also being held on the same dates have been indefinitely distanced by the American company.

They are thus unable to play classic PGA Tour tournaments, which will be dealt with by the courts in the coming months (but more likely years). They can, however, play in major tournaments such as the Masters or The Open under current regulations.

However, this is not what many professionals who have remained loyal to the PGA Tour want. One of the big critics of these sinners is Tiger Woods. Most recently, he publicly denounced LIV Golf and its boss, Greta Norman, at the recent 150th edition of The Open, which he himself attended.

According to Woods, a project subsidised by Saudi money is not in the best interests of golf as a game. The exodus of players to the competition is greatly weakening the starting field of the PGA Tour, which must address the current situation.

On the other hand, the resulting competition could also bring a positive effect to the PGA Tour. Already, the FedEx Cup playoffs are being played with a record financial endowment that was recently increased. The winner of the entire season will collect $18 million.

In addition, there is loud talk about the option where every player on the PGA Tour would have a guaranteed minimum earnings of 500,000 US dollars from 2023. This would be a kind of advance payment, which would then be deducted from the money won from tournaments.

Proponents of LIV Golf argue that the PGA Tour has been riding a wave for 20 years with no innovation and no planned future. The PGA Tour’s approach is allegedly self-inflicted for creating the market space. It will be interesting to see what the players come to at the scheduled discussion.

Sources: PGA Tour, LIV Golf