Tiger Woods addressed the media this Wednesday in the run-up to the The Genesis Invitational. It was one of the most anticipated appearances in world golf.
He had not spoken since the Hero World Challenge, when he still assured that the intention was to reach an agreement between the PGA Tour and the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia before the end of the year. Since then, things have happened. The agreement was not reached on the scheduled date, the deadline was extended, and PGA Tour Enterprises was created in association with SSG, the investment group of sports and communication magnates from the United States. Many things. Therefore, there was a lot of interest in hearing from one of the main interlocutors in this negotiation where the process is at.
Some kind of bombshell from Tiger regarding LIV was expected, and yet, the bombshell came from elsewhere. Without hesitation, Woods has assured that his goal this week at Riviera Country Club is to win the tournament. Just like that. It’s not a let’s see what we can do, no. It’s a textbook I’m going for it.
“The goal is a good victory. It would be nice. I’ve been playing here since 1992 and I’ve never won. I trust to find a way, get into the fight and why not win the tournament at the end of the week”. Woods’ word. Any logical reasoning would think it’s crazy. Who knows if it’s nothing more than a marketing campaign to keep the hype at its peak. Maybe. But it’s Tiger and no one in their right mind would bet all their money against him.
Actually, his firmness when talking about his chances of winning has been the most striking, although he also left some interesting comments regarding the Saudi fund, the negotiation, the way back for LIV golfers to the PGA Tour, team golf, his physical condition and much more…
About the negotiation with the Saudi Public Investment Fund… “We believe that their entry into PGA Tour Enterprise would be positive. We would like the PIF to be part of our circuit and part of our product. Financially it is not so necessary. The money that has come in now (with SSG) is more or less the same as we agreed in the framework agreement. Thus, their entry would be to go beyond those figures. We trust to make our product better in the short term and long term. Negotiations are ongoing and fluid. I have not personally spoken to anyone from LIV or with Yassir Al Rumayyan”.
Should there be a way back to the PGA Tour for LIV Golf players? “We are studying all possible models, seeing how it would affect the players who have stayed and those who have left and how to improve our product in the future. There are many ideas and, in the short term, we really don’t know. We don’t even know what it will be like in the long term. Believe me, there are daily, weekly emails and conversations about this”.
His opinion on team golf… “It’s going to be part of the Tour. In a way it’s already part of the Tour, we have the TGL (his league with Rory on Mondays). However, as for official tournaments, we still don’t know what they will be like. As for one-night events, what TGL offers is going to be entertaining. We have to see if we can transform that or join it with official tournaments. That’s one of the reasons SSG is part of this and our negotiations with PIF”.
What an investment fund like SSG brings… “We try to offer the best entertainment and for that you have to have the best players. We want to have the history and traditions of our circuit, the structure, the accessibility, have all the intangibles that have made the PGA Tour what it is now and what it has been. The goal is for it to be even better. And how do we do that? That’s the idea of having a group like SSG. It’s a pretty notable group in the sports industry. They are incredible leaders. We need leadership and they have it, as well as incredible brains generating ideas that can make this circuit better”.
Physically and mentally he is doing well… “Yes, my ankle no longer hurts because there are no bones rubbing against each other. But there are parts of my body that take the brunt of this fusion. Now, along with the back, I have two fused parts and that has consequences on other parts of the body that have to adapt. As for the love of golf, I still love to compete, I love to play, I love to be part of the game. It’s the sport of my life and I don’t want to ever leave it”.
Less swing speed, betting on the quality of striking… “What I try to do from a technical point of view is to make sure that I can still play well, that I can still hit the golf ball solidly. I don’t have the same speed, nor the ability to practice the same amount of hours, but I still train to make sure I can hit the ball in the center of the face. That’s the line”.
The thorn in his side at Riviera… “I’ve always considered myself a good iron player and here I traditionally haven’t hit it well. It’s a fade course, most of the holes are left to right for a right-hander. Neither the irons nor the putter have been good on this course. For some reason, I’ve never had a good week and it’s frustrating in the sense that this is a golf course that has always caught my eye. I hope it’s this week”.
His new caddie and some changes in equipment… “I’ve had a great relationship with Lance Bennett over the years. We coincided at the Presidents and at the Ryder when he was Kuchar’s caddie. He’s down to earth, very loyal and a great conversationalist. We’ve had the same feelings, we look at the course the same way, we read the putts very similar… We’re going to be a great team”.
As for the equipment, he admitted that he is going to incorporate the new TaylorMade 3 wood, will keep the old 5 wood and confessed that he had to make an adjustment in the spikes of his new Sun Day Red shoes to adapt to the slopes of Riviera and its more slippery terrain. In addition, he confirmed that the TW brand is history. He will not use it again. Now only Sun Day Red exists.
