A PGA Tour delegation of Tiger Woods, Adam Scott and commissioner Jay Monahan met with President Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday, as Trump and the tour continue to negotiate a potential deal with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. PIF governor H.E. Yasir Al-Rumayyan was also in attendance. The PIF has a heavy American presence this week, as the Future Investment Initiative Institute Priority Summit, backed by Saudi Arabia, is happening in Miami.

Following the afternoon session, the tour released a joint statement from Monahan, Woods and Scott:

“We have just concluded a constructive working session at the White House with President Trump and H.E. Yasir Al-Rumayyan. 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.”

After the meeting, Woods also made an appearance with Trump at a White House reception for Black History Month. Trump asked Woods to speak and acknowledged Scott and Monahan being at the White House, telling the crowd: “We had some interesting discussions.”

Last week, Monahan met with the media at the Genesis Invitational at Torrey Pines and expressed optimism that a deal with PIF—originally announced as a framework agreement on June 6, 2023—was close to coming to fruition. Monahan, along with player representative Scott, met with Trump two weeks prior, which Monahan called a “productive visit” and asserted the goal was for “the game of golf operating under one tour with all the top players playing on that one tour.” When asked if that meant the end of LIV Golf, Monahan referred to the “reunification of the game.”

“Candidly, that’s what fans want,” Monahan explained. “So when you talk about reunification, that’s all the best players in the world competing with each other and against each other.”

The commissioner’s comments were noteworthy, as there has been belief in golf circles that—should the tour and LIV’s financial backer ultimately finalize a peace treaty—the entities would remain separate in some capacity in order to appease United States government anti-trust regulations. While that may still come to pass, Monahan’s repeated insistence last week of a singular, unified tour could not be ignored.

“Listen, if you think about what the fans want, the fans want reunification. That’s what we’re focused on. We’ve operated in a world where there’s more than one and the PGA Tour has performed very well,” Monahan said. “But in the long run, is that the best thing for fans? Is that the best thing for the game? We’re trying to solve it so everybody benefits.”

While Woods did not attend the previous meeting due to the passing of his mother, Woods also expressed conviction about a possible deal when appearing on CBS Sports’ final round coverage of the Genesis Invitational.

“Jay and Adam did great during the meeting. And we have another subsequent meeting coming up,” Woods said. “So I think that things are going to heal quickly. We’re going to get this game going in the right direction. We’ve been heading in the wrong direction for a number of years. The fans want all of us, all the top players playing together. And we’re going to make it happen.”

Trump was brought into the negotiations earlier this month at the tour’s insistence. There has been belief that the Department of Justice under Trump would be more willing to greenlight a potential PGA Tour-PIF deal. Shortly after the 2024 election, Trump played a round of golf with Monahan in Florida. Helping matters as well is Trump’s relationship with Saudi Arabia and LIV Golf. Trump has had business ties with the Saudi league since its emergence in 2022, with LIV hosting events at Trump venues in New Jersey, Florida and outside of Washington, D.C.

When asked if the tour may incorporate Trump properties into the tour’s plans going forward, Monahan replied, “We’ve played at Trump venues in the past. While we haven’t talked about that with the president, I certainly see a day where we’re adding Trump venues to our schedule.”

Main Image: Win McNamee