Tiger Woods has long been one of LIV Golf’s toughest critics, once saying defectors “turned their back” on the PGA Tour. Yet as the sport’s future evolves, even Woods sat down with Saudi PIF chief Yasir Al-Rumayyan — and went a step further by playing a round of golf with him.

Al-Rumayyan, while talking to David Rubenstein in an interview, talked about teeing it up with Woods and his son, Charlie Woods. “I played almost with all the golfers, the professional golfers from both the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, and also LIV. And yes, to answer your question, I played with Tiger and his son.”  Rubenstein then further trailed on controversial lines, asking if Woods was overrated or “pretty good,” likely fishing for a hot statement from the Chairman. But Rumayyan apparently has learned a thing or two about diplomacy, dealing with Golf’s biggest entities. He replied, “He’s okay.”

Now, when the Chairman shared a round with the Big Cat and his son, the exact timing isn’t clear, but it likely happened sometime last year. The meeting took place at Woods’ residence in Albany, the Bahamas — the same venue where he hosts his Hero World Challenge. It was set up as a discussion point for the future of LIV, the PGA Tour, and potential investment plans. In attendance were then PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, Patrick Cantlay, members of the Strategic Sports Group, and several others. The gathering was called “the next right thing.”

These steps were being taken after the PGA and DP World Tours shocked the world by announcing a “framework agreement” with LIV. It was pitched as a plan to unify the fractured sport by merging its commercial rights into a single for-profit venture. This came after constant backlashes hurled by prominent players from the Tour towards the intention of LIV and the loyalties of those who switched sides.

But, there were no results that yielded after that meeting at Woods’s house. Since then, PIF/LIV has tried several attempts to reconcile with PGA, but there have been no updates. Talking about the same, Al-Rumayyan said that he’s hopeful for a future where all of them work together. “We reached out to them from day one, and unfortunately, things didn’t go very well, but I think hopefully in the future we will be able to bring the game of golf together.”

He is indeed right about reaching out to the PGA Tour. The PIF had earlier this year offered a $1.5 billion investment offer to the Tour, which it later rejected. According to reports, that deal would have allowed LIV Golf to continue running while also giving Al-Rumayyan a co-chairman position inside PGA Tour Enterprises. The Tour, meanwhile, made it clear that it wanted to move toward a single elite competition and isn’t ready to hand LIV’s leader such a powerful role.

One likely reason for the rejection was that the Tour had already accepted investment from the Strategic Sports Group. That funding allowed commissioner Jay Monahan to launch the Player Equity Program, giving players direct stakes in PGA Tour Enterprises. “There’s no other sports league in the world that has this significant number of their athletes as owners of their own sports organization,” PGA Tour chief competitions officer Tyler Dennis had said.

Still, both sides kept pushing for dialogue. Earlier this year, Woods, Monahan, and Al-Rumayyan met again to discuss the game’s future, with US President Donald Trump also in attendance. But that gathering was the last significant update on a possible merger. Since then, newly appointed PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp has downplayed the chances, saying he has had no contact with LIV officials. Recently, though, speculations resurfaced after Trump was spotted with the LIV Chairman at the US Open final. In the same interview, when Rubenstein asked who’s a better golfer, him or Trump, Al-Rumayyan said, “That’s a sad secret, I think.”

What is Al-Rumayyan’s bigger plan?

With all the possibilities of a merger falling apart, LIV and the PGA – DP World Tours have started focusing on their events. For Yasir Al-Rumayyan, though, a bigger picture is missing. In the interview with David Rubenstein, he insisted that he isn’t trying to ᵴtriƥ anything from the PGA Tour or DPWT. Rather, he’s trying to expand golf’s reach entirely. “What I’m trying to do is not to claw back from the PGA or the DP world tour. What I’m trying to do is to increase the size of the pie,” he said.

His point is that golf’s fan base is still largely made up of people who play the game themselves. They have zero spectators, as per him. He suggested that golf could learn from the global boom of Formula 1 and tennis. Both sports have managed to grow beyond their core audiences into worldwide entertainment products. Al-Rumayyan is Aramco’s chairman, which ties him to Formula 1 through major sponsorships and the Aston Martin team partnership. On the other hand, PIF has also struck deals with the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), with them hosting WTA finals in Riyadh, bringing Spanish legend Rafael Nadal as an ambassador.