Tiger Woods joins Adam Scott in meeting US President Donald Trump to end golf’s war
For the second time in weeks, golf’s powerbrokers met with US President Donald Trump to end golf’s war with two important extra guests this time.
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Adam Scott has gone back to the White House for a second meeting with US President Donald Trump, this time taking Tiger Woods with him in a bid to move golf’s “reunification” closer to reality.
At last week’s Genesis Open, Woods said golf had been “heading in the wrong direction” for too long after the emergence of LIV Golf and the more than $3bn invested by the Saudi Public Investment Fund to poach star players, including Australian star Cameron Smith, from the PGA Tour.
The 15-time major champ increased his involvement in negotiations over a framework agreement that could bring the warring tours back together and was part of the three-man posse that met with Trump in Washington DC.
Woods was invited to the US capital to launch Black History Month and Trump even led chants for the 15-time major champion to speak at the function which came alongside the meeting with PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan.
The President even acknowledged the presence of Scott, who he said was “sort of” American.
“Adam, even though he doesn’t quite come from our country, he sort of does, right? He’s here a lot,” he said.
“He comes from another nice place like Australia and they’ve been very, very good for us.”
Scott, who is on the player advisory board, and Monahan met with Trump earlier this month after which the word “reunification” was used as the priority of the meeting.
Woods was not present, missing due to the death of his mother, Kultida, but did join the second meeting, which also included PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan, who was in Australia last week for the LIV Adelaide event.
“We have just concluded a constructive working session at the White House with President Trump and H.E. Yasir Al-Rumayyan,” a joint statement from Monahan, Woods and Scott confirmed.
“Thanks to the leadership of President Trump, we have initiated a discussion about the reunification of golf. We are committed to moving as quickly as possible and will share additional details as appropriate.
“We share a passion for the game and the importance of reunification. Most importantly, we all want the best players in the world playing together more often and are committed to doing all we can to deliver that outcome for our fans.”
The meeting should further hasten an end to the division in the sport sparked by LIV’s arrival and aggressive pursuit of players, led by former LIV chief executive Greg Norman.
While “one tour” is reported to be Trump’s hope, LIV is likely to live on in some form. LIV officials signed a contract extension with the South Australian government to keep an event in Adelaide until 2031.
But what the landscape could look like then remains unclear, with Woods adamant things are “going to heal quickly” amid an escalation in meetings.
“We’re going to get this game going in the right direction,” he said.
“It’s been heading in the wrong direction for a number of years and the fans want all of us to play together, all the top players playing together, and we’re going to make that happen.”
Originally published as Tiger Woods joins Adam Scott in meeting US President Donald Trump to end golf’s war
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