On Monday, the PGA Tour player directors of the new for-profit PGA Tour Enterprises finally met with Yasir Al-Rummayan, the Governor of the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF).
News of the meeting surfaced over the weekend, with it being reportedly being held in Ponta Vedra Beach, Florida; site of The Players Championship.
As it turned out, they all met in the Bahamas where Tiger Woods hosted.
Woods is one of the six player directors. The rest consists of Patrick Cantlay, Webb Simpson, Peter Malnati, Jordan Spieth and Adam Scott.
Woods was described as “very engaged” with Al-Rummayan as they played a round of golf, per Sports Illustrated.
Simpson met with SI’s Bob Harig to provide details of the meeting.
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Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images
“What I was interested in going there was to learn more about who he is and what he’s thinking,” Simpson said. “Learn about LIV more. What was your intention and hope there? …A meet and greet and learn. I think he wanted to learn from us kind of what we think. We wanted to figure out what he thinks.”
If that was the goal, Simpson must have been pretty disappointed.
“We didn’t get as far as what he wants and what does LIV want,” said Simpson.
“I didn’t walk away with a much clearer understanding of what the future holds. But I definitely walked away thinking I’m glad we did that… It was never tense. It was a long day but a good day.”
Golf Channel’s Kira Dixon also met with an unnamed player director, who went on to say that the two sides are still “far away” from the unification of golf.
Woods and the other player directors is certainly an important step forward. But it does not appear as though much was accomplished.
Specific details of the meeting are scant, but one thing is still very clear: the schism that has gripped the sport of golf for two years is far from over.
Kendall Capps is the Senior Editor of SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social media platforms.
