Tiger Woods denies any knowledge of 'scripted' LIV Golf remarks in leaked document
- Michael Schmitt
- 4 July 2023
The former World No 1 insists he's never seen the document that outlined the comments he should make to his fellow players, and never attended the meeting in question.
Tiger Woods felt the need to personally address a leaked document that appeared to show the PGA Tour spoonfeeding him comments to give to his fellow players last year.
Legal documents obtained by Sports Illustrated detail how PGA Tour bosses scripted a number of statements they wanted Tiger Woods to make during a player meeting at last year's Travelers Championship.
At the time, golf's civil war was in full swing and the tour was doing everything in its power to quash the upstart Saudi-backed LIV Golf Tour, which had already signed several high-profile players.
The plan was for Woods to speak up at the meeting, but rather than give his own feelings on the situation, the tour wanted him to come armed with a set of talking points they had outlined themselves.
Some of the scripted comments include Woods telling the players to "do what I did: tell the Saudis to go f*** themselves. And mean it.
"Second, tell the world-over and over any chance you get-that you will be sticking with the PGA Tour because you are part of something bigger than yourself."
Reportedly, another comment prompted Woods to give high praise for PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, while accusing LIV of trying to "take down" the PGA Tour.
However, Woods felt urged to comment on the leaked document on Monday, taking to social media in a rare public statement to insist he had never seen it and was not in attendance at the meeting in question anyway.
In response to the talking points memo released this weekend, I have never seen this document until today, and I did not attend the players meeting for which it was prepared at the 2022 Travelers.
— Tiger Woods (@TigerWoods) July 2, 2023
"In response to the talking points memo released this weekend, I have never seen this document until today, and I did not attend the players meeting for which it was prepared at the 2022 Travelers," Woods said in terse statement posted on his Twitter account.
It's likely that the document was drawn up when it was still hoped that Woods would attend the meeting, and plans subsequently changed.
The 15-time major winner did not comment on what he thought of the scripted comments, or whether he would have been happy to relay them.
Last month, the PGA Tour stunned the golfing world by announcing an end to hostilities and the decision to merge with LIV Golf, bringing to an end a bitter battle between the two warring factions.
