Woods returns: ‘We have our work cut out for us’

Tiger Woods insisted PGA Tour Enterprises doesn’t need Saudi Arabia’s cash right now, but he didn’t rule out a deal with PIF either.

As he spoke to the media in Los Angeles last night and prepared to play his first official event for ten months, the host of this week’s Genesis Invitational spoke about the state of the tour and its $3 billion deal with the Strategic Sports Group (SSG), his recovery from ankle surgery and his frustration at never having won at Riviera Country Club, where he first appeared as an amateur in 1992.

The recently announced injection of capital by SSG, a consortium of sports team owners led by Fenway Group, has left the game wondering where this leaves a deal with Saudi Arabia’s PIF.

"Well, the PIF deal obviously is ongoing," Woods said of the potential merger that was announced on June 6 last year but which has so far failed to materialise. 

"SSG, we have solidified our agreement with them and PIF is still ongoing and we're still negotiating."

Woods made it clear that PIF was very much a player but expressed some doubt as to what they actually want from a deal.

“Ultimately, we would like to have PIF be a part of our Tour and a part of our product,” Woods said. “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.

"Anything beyond this is going to be obviously over and above. We're in a position right now, hopefully we can make our product better in the short term and long term."

He’s never met Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of PIF and even expressed doubts about PIF’s long-term goals now the Tour has $3 billion from private equity to invest in making the tour attractive to its stars (as opposed to LIV Golf) and more watchable for fans.

"From what their representatives have discussed with us, yes and no, because that changes and that evolves from a few months ago to what it is currently now,” Woods said when asked if he knew what PIF now wanted from a deal. 

With three of the last five major winners all now with LIV - Brooks Koepka, Jon Rahm and Cam Smith, there have been calls from the likes of Rory McIlroy to allow players to return to the PGA Tour without punishment and opposition to such a move from the likes of Jordan Spieth and Adam Scott.

"We're looking into all the different models for pathways back," Woods said. "What that looks like, what the impact is for the players who have stayed and who have not left and how we make our product better going forward, there is no answer to that right now.

"We're looking at a very different—varying degrees of ideas and what that looks like in the short term, we don't know. 

“We don't even know in the longer term what that looks like. Trust me, there's daily, weekly emails and talks about this and what this looks like for our Tour going forward."

How LIV Golf or the upstart league’s team model could be incorporated into the PGA Tour structure remains unclear, though Woods said the TGL, the simulator league put on hold for a year, was an option.

“How team golf is ... it's going to be a part of the Tour,” Woods said. “It is part of the Tour, we had TGL.

"What that looks like as far as (an) official event goes, we don't know what that looks like yet as of now. As far as one‑night events, what TMRW golf league provides, it is going to be entertaining. 

“Whether or not we can transform that or—put that together with official open events, that's one of the reasons we have SSG to be a part of what that can possibly look like or how does that even look like or how does that even look like with our PIF negotiations as well."

There was as much interest in Woods's physical health as ever as he returns for his first official event in 10 months.

Drawn with Justin Thomas and Gary Woodland for the first two rounds at a venue where he’s never won in 14 appearances, it remains to be seen how Woods performs.

While he played his Hero World Challenge and the PNC Challenge with his son Charlie just before Christmas, he hasn't played an official event since withdrawing from the Masters during the third round last April and undergoing subsequent ankle surgery. 

"My ankle doesn't hurt anymore because no bones are rubbing anymore," Woods said. 

“But then again, it's different. Other parts of my body have to take the brunt of it. Just like my back is fused, so other parts of my body have taken the brunt of that.

“I have two different body parts that are now fused. Other parts of the body have to adapt.

"I still love competing, I love playing, I love being a part of the game of golf. 

“This is the game of a lifetime and I don't ever want to stop playing. I love being able to compete, I love being able to enjoy different conversations from across time. 

“For instance, like today, to be able to play with two great athletes, the cross‑pollination doesn't happen with other sports. And this game, I love that and I don't ever want to lose that."

He added: “How the body feels from day to day and the grind of trying to practice and get ready for an event, just the overall just aging process of it all, that has been the trick of it and been the challenge of it

"This will be my first Tour event back since I've had my ankle fused, so that's different, and I had two soft events playing at Hero and the PNC.

"So trying to get used to the new feels of the body. That's always the challenge. And the challenges of trying to get Tour-ready, that's been what we've been trying to do the last couple weeks and trying to be sure I'm physically fit and ready to play this event. 

“Being ready for tomorrow. We have our work cut out for us and look forward to it."

Just 70 players tee it up this week, including Rory McIlroy and Seamus Power, but with only the top 50 and ties and anyone within ten shots of the lead making the 36-hole cut, Woods presence at the weekend is not guaranteed. 

The 15-time major winner said in December he hoped to play a tournament a month before the Masters, and while he’s hoping to win at Riviera - “A nice W would be nice, right?” - he’s never managed that in 14 appearances at the Los Angeles venue

"I have traditionally not putted well here," he said. "This is a fader's delight, most of the holes are, for a righty, run left to right. I've driven it well here. 

“There are small greens and traditionally, throughout my entire career, my iron game has been pretty good, but I have never really gotten hot with the putter at this course.

"Generally, they're bumpy poa (annua greens), so it's been a little bit tricky. For some reason, it just has never compiled to a hot week. I had one where I had a chance, I guess Ernie, and hit a foul ball on the last hole. Other than that, I really haven't had that many opportunities for some reason."