Even if he doesn’t plan to play a full-time schedule anymore, Tiger Woods firmly planted his flag with the PGA Tour.
With rumors swirling about rival leagues to the PGA Tour, Woods said Tuesday that players will have to make personal decisions but that he will continue to support the PGA Tour.
“That’s where my legacy is,” Woods said.
There have been few concrete details about any of the purposed breakaway tours, either with Greg Norman’s Saudi-backed league or the Premier Golf League. No players have formally announced their intentions to join those tours, and Woods, an 82-time Tour winner, said that he feels “an allegiance to the PGA Tour.”
“I understand some of the comparisons are very similar to when Arnold [Palmer] and Jack [Nicklaus] broke off from the PGA of America to start the Tour, but I don’t see it that way,” Woods said. “I think the Tour has done a fantastic job; [PGA Tour commission] Jay [Monahan] has done an unbelievable job during a very difficult time during the pandemic when there was ample opportunities for players to leave, but were the first sporting tour to start."
“I think the Tour is in great hands, they’re doing fantastic, and prize money is going up,” he continued. “It’s just not guaranteed money like most sports are. It’s just like tennis – you have to go out there and earn it.”
Woods hosts two events on the PGA Tour calendar: The Genesis Invitational, which next year will feature a purse bump from $9.3 million to $12 million, and this week’s Hero World Challenge, a 20-man exhibition that offers world-ranking points.