Tiger Woods has hit out at polarising LIV Golf boss Greg Norman for “trying to destroy” the PGA Tour.
The breakaway golf tour, privately funded largely by Saudi Arabian investors, has created an enormous rift in the sport.
Speaking at the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas, Wood lashed Norman for the ongoing feud.
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The five-time Masters winner said he doesn’t have much hope the PGA Tour and the rival league can get along unless Norman is out as LIV Golf’s leader.
“Not right now. Not with their leadership. Not with Greg there and his animosity toward the tour itself,” Woods said.
“I don’t see that happening.”
Rory McIlroy also said in Dubai that Norman needs to “exit stage left” before there can be any meaningful discussions between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf.
“He’s made his mark,” said McIlroy prior to the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.
“But I think now is the right time to sort of say, ‘Look, you’ve got this thing off the ground, but no one is going to talk unless there’s an adult in the room that can actually try to mend fences’.”
Woods artfully skirted around other questions at a press conference, such as details on two unexpected surgeries he had last year and whether the 20-man field at the Hero World Challenge should be getting points toward the world ranking.
He was forceful on the effect of LIV Golf, referring to friction the rival league has caused and how lawsuits stand in the way of any reconciliation.
“If one side has so much animosity — someone trying to destroy our tour — then how do we work with that?” Woods said.
Phil Mickelson was among 10 players who filed an antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour in August, a lawsuit since taken over by LIV Golf.
Bryson DeChambeau, Peter Uihlein and Matt Jones are the only players still involved as plaintiffs. The PGA Tour since has filed a countersuit. A trial date is tentatively scheduled for January 2024.
Woods said the lawsuits would have to be settled — he used the word “stay” on more than one occasion — or there is no way forward.
He added that there “is no willingness to negotiate if you have litigation against you.
“It has to start with leadership on their side, understanding that what is happening right now is not the best future for the whole game of golf.
“You need to have the two bodies come together and if one side has so much animosity, trying to destroy our tour, then how do you work with that?”
– Additional reporting by Simon Chapman
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