Woods optimistic after PGA Tour's recent meeting with PIF

Tiger Woods expressed optimism on Tuesday after attending a recent meeting between the PGA Tour and Saudi backers of LIV Golf that left the 15-time major winner more hopeful for a potential deal that would reunite the game.

Woods, speaking ahead of this week's U.S. Open, is part of a subcommittee engaged in direct negotiations with the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) and was in New York City last Friday for the first in-person gathering between the two sides since March.

"It was productive. And is there light at the end of tunnel? I think we're closer to that point than we were pre-meeting," Woods said at Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina.

"We discussed a lot of different endings and how we get there. I think that both sides walked away from the meeting, we all felt very positive in that meeting."

The PGA Tour, PIF and Europe-based DP World Tour announced a framework agreement in June 2023 to house all their commercial operations in a for-profit entity called PGA Tour Enterprises.

The framework agreement stunned the golf world and expired at the end of 2023 but the sides have been working to reach a deal, though many involved in the talks have said there is a long way to go to bring the fractured sport back together.

The PGA Tour has since secured a $3-billion investment into PGA Tour Enterprises from a group of U.S. sports team owners as part of a deal that allows for co-investment from the PIF.

"Both sides were looking at different ways to get to the end game," Woods said of last week's meeting.

"I think that both sides shared a deep passion for how we need to get there. And yes, there are going to be differences of opinion, but we all want the same thing."

Woods, whose injury-ravaged body has limited the number of events