Tiger Woods is leading a player-driven effort to help the PGA Tour amid its battle with LIV Golf. The significant development is happening after Woods reportedly turned down an offer from LIV Golf close to a billion.
There’s a theory out there that the PGA Tour will look to reward Woods for his loyalty. It’d start with the PGA Tour dropping its non-profit status and privatizing.
That’d allow major private equity firms to invest millions of dollars in the PGA. The PGA Tour could then reward Woods in equity, as LIV Golf has done with some of its top players.
“If the Tour were to privatize, heavy-hitting investors such as McManus (and his best friend Dermot Desmond) and private equity firms could pump in billions of dollars, and top players could be compensated with equity positions, as LIV has done with some of its stars,” said Alan Shipnuck of The Fire Pit Collective. “If the Tour needs to make Woods whole for turning down the LIV largess, the easiest way would be to award him, say, 10 percent of a $7.5 billion business, or 5 percent of a $15 billion concern. His duties would include hosting the L.A. Open (and perhaps more tournaments), captaining Presidents and Ryder Cup teams, and, as McIlroy put it coming out of Wednesday’s meeting, serving as the Tour’s alpha.”
An interesting theory, and one that if implemented will take time.
It seems like a no-brainer for the PGA Tour to compensate Tiger Woods for his loyalty, despite a near billion-dollar offer from LIV Golf.