The inception of LIV Golf altered relationships between several golfers. Tiger Woods was one of the PGA Tour Pros who had stopped talking to a lot of his friends who decided to jump ships. Be it Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka, or Dustin Johnson. However, on top of the list was breaking ties with Bryson DeChambeau.
The two were each other’s boys! They would practice together and even represented the team US at the Ryder Cup. Mr. T being an amateur physics buff, found it cool that DeChambeau majored in the same subject. However, when the Scientist joined LIV Golf in June 2022, Woods chose to distance himself from the 30-year-old. But the recent scenario looks like they might be patching up the differences and mending the burnt bridges.
Tiger Woods congratulated Bryson DeChambeau
Bryson DeChambeau once revealed that Tiger Woods had been giving him silent treatment ever since he joined the breakaway league. He even stated that to be a good friend, he even wished Woods on his birthday, but the 15X Major Champion ignored his text. However, during the practice round at Royal Troon, DeChambeau was approached by his old friend.
Bryson DeChambeau defeated Rory McIlroy by one stroke and won the US Open this year. Woods came to congratulate him on the win! Despite having a terrible first round, scoring a 5-over, he seemed to be thrilled. An excited DeChambeau told Golf Digest, “It is the first communication, but I’ll say he’s a competitor and I have a lot of respect for him. I’m sure that winning two US Opens helped, I guess, for him coming up and saying congrats. I don’t know what his position is, but it was very thoughtful, and I was appreciative of it.”
Well, with Tiger Woods making amends with his old friends from LIV Golf, does it indicate progress in the negotiations between both leagues? In all probabilities, they are. Tiger Woods is one of the significant members of negotiations with PIF. At the pre-conference of the Royal Troon, he even stated that they are making progress, and he is happy with it. “We’ve got to keep everything at a high level and private, but things are moving and things are changing. It’s evolving every day. There’s e-mails and chains and texts and ideas that we bounce back and forth from both sides,” said Woods.
What is the status of the PIF merger?
On May 11, Jay Monahan, Rory McIlroy, and the PGA Tour’s transaction committee, along with Tiger Woods and John Henry, met the LIV Golf team in New York. With the meet, there were speculations of the establishment of many common grounds. Jay Monahan even stated that the two leagues had reached a consensus on several items during the meeting. “We remain committed to these negotiations, which require working through complex considerations to best position golf for global growth,” said Jay Monahan.
