One month shy of his 48th birthday, Tiger Woods continues to be a central figure in the PGA Tour story.
Not just because he is making his return to competitive golf this week at the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas – his first tournament action since the Masters – but because of his role as one of the architects of the tour’s future.
Concerned by the tour’s governance and its surprising decision to negotiate with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund about a shared path forward, Woods now finds himself as one of six players on the 11-member PGA Tour Policy Board, which is working to reshape not just the tour but the landscape of professional golf.
“I enjoy the fact that I’m able to make an impact differently than just hitting a golf ball,” Woods said Tuesday at Albany Golf Club, site of this week’s 20-man exhibition. “I made an impact on the PGA Tour for a number of years hitting a golf ball and doing that. I can have, I think, a lasting impact by doing what I’m doing, by being on the board and being a part of the future of the PGA Tour.”
It is yet another chapter in Woods’ remarkable career, taking a leadership role and lending his powerful voice to the negotiations that continue with the PIF and within the tour structure itself.
Having redefined the tour with his play over two decades, Woods is now heavily involved in redefining the way it does business.
What began two summers ago with a players-only meeting organized by Woods in Delaware, which led to the creation of what are now called “signature events,” was crystallized by the news of June 6 when commissioner Jay Monahan and the PIF’s Yasir Al-Rumayyan announced their framework agreement.
“I would say that my reaction was surprised as I’m sure a lot of the players were taken back by it, by what happened. So quickly without any input or any information about it, it was just thrown out there,” Woods said Tuesday in his first public comments since joining the Policy Board.
“I was very surprised that the process was what it was. We were very frustrated with what happened, and we took steps going forward to ensure that the player involvement was not going – we were not going to be left out of the process like we were. So, part of that process was putting me on the board and accepting that position.”
“The guys, all the player directors have spent so many hours and worked tireless hours to make sure that we have the best deal for all the players that are involved, the entire PGA Tour.” – Tiger Woods
Since the arrival of LIV Golf in early 2022, the PGA Tour has been at work reacting to the new, deep-pocketed entity. The tour seemed to find its footing this year with the signature events, but LIV’s threat – and the embedded legal expenses – has remained.
Whether that threat remains or is removed likely depends on what the ongoing negotiations produce. The agreement to outline a for-profit entity separate from the non-profit PGA Tour set a Dec. 31 deadline. Woods said that timeline, while ambitious, is still on the table.
It’s an agreement with enormous implications for both sides, and it also requires the PGA Tour to adjust its processes, giving players a bigger voice in the decision making now that they have a voting majority on the Policy Board.
“I’m pleased at the process and how it’s evolved,” Woods said. “Also frustrated in some of the slowness and the governance change that we want to have happen.
“And December 31st is coming up very quickly, so there’s the timetable there that we would like to implement some of these changes that have not taken place. The guys, all the player directors have spent so many hours and worked tireless hours to make sure that we have the best deal for all the players that are involved, the entire PGA Tour.”

Woods said both sides are working “aggressively” on getting the deal done, but he did not offer any specifics. He acknowledged there are other alternatives under discussion, which includes the tour taking on investment from private companies, something Monahan confirmed recently.
There are so many questions to consider regarding a potential agreement between the tour and the PIF that it has slowed the process.
What would a merger look like?
What about players who left the PGA Tour for LIV?
Would players who remain loyal to the tour be compensated for the loyalty?
Those are just some of the issues facing Woods and the Policy Board.
What does he expect the finished product to look like?
“To answer that question, I would say that the answer is murky,” Woods said. “There’s a lot of moving parts on how we’re going to play. Whether it’s here on the PGA Tour or it’s merging, or team golf. There’s a lot of different aspects that are being thrown out there all at once, and we are trying to figure all that out and what is the best solution for all parties and best solution for all the players that are involved.”
For the first time since he had surgery to fuse his accident-damaged right ankle earlier this year, Woods will be teeing it up in competition, which begins Thursday. He was convinced he can handle the demands of walking four days when he caddied for his 14-year-old son Charlie recently.
“I’m excited to compete and play, and I’m just as curious as all of you are to see what happens because I haven’t done it in a while.” – Tiger Woods
The ankle, Woods said, is pain-free, but he still deals with discomfort in his knee and back from the single-car rollover accident in early 2021 and previous surgeries.
“I’m excited to compete and play, and I’m just as curious as all of you are to see what happens because I haven’t done it in a while,” said Woods, who remains tied with the late Sam Snead for the all-time lead in PGA Tour victories, at 82.
Barring any setbacks, however, Woods suggested he may play several tournaments in 2024.
“I think that best scenario would be maybe a tournament a month… You would have to start with maybe at Genesis and something in March near the Players,” Woods said.
“Again, we have set up right now the biggest events are one per month. It sets itself up for that. Now, I need to get myself ready for all that. I think this week is a big step in that direction.”