MEMPHIS – Two pieces of news, six days apart in the last few weeks, might have gone unnoticed if you hadn’t been paying attention to the details of the ongoing tug-of war for the soul of professional golf. They could very well change the way that this year’s FedEx St. Jude Championship will be remembered.
In a memo , PGA Tour Jay Monahan announced that a meeting would be held with golfers in Memphis on Tuesday. Monahan will have his first large-group interaction with golfers since June’s clumsy, abrupt announcement that the Tour wanted to merge with Saudi Arabia’s Private Investment Fund.
Tiger Woods, Jon Rahm, Scottie Scheffler, and other prominent golfers requested that Tiger Woods be added to the PGA Tour policy board . This board helps determine the Tour’s governance structure.
When you put those details together, there is an interesting possibility to consider as the tournament week in Memphis begins.
This week’s PGA Tour drama is so intense that Woods may even make his first appearance at TPC Southwind.
Of course, he won’t be playing in the FedEx St. Jude Championship. It became almost impossible after he was in a car accident and nearly lost a leg two years ago. He can’t play as many tournaments as he needs to to qualify for the FedEx Cup Playoffs. Memphis, last year, was a playoff event.
He could fly his private jet to Wilson Air Center, and then head straight over to TPC Southwind rather than Zooming into the meeting. Woods would be closer to participating in this tournament than he has ever been, almost 27 years after he turned professional. The tournament is so well-known and has a lot of goodwill because of its long history and partnership with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
There is precedent for this, too
Woods was in Delaware last August for a players-only meeting ahead of the BMW Championship as the PGA Tour feud with LIV golf continued to escalate.
It was before he held an official leadership position like he has now and just days after a particularly awkward 2022 FedEx St. Jude Championship. Cam Smith had to dodge questions after winning the Open Championship. Abraham Ancer had already defected from PGA Tour, and could not participate.
If this is going be a bit weird again, if it is going distract from the actual event because the PGA Tour has yet to sort out the sport’s reckoning then maybe we can have a cameo by Woods at the venue.
In terms of public appearances he’s only been to Memphis once. It was for a youth clinic at Pine Hill Golf Course in 1997, after he won his first Masters.
Joe Tomek, executive director of the FedEx St. Jude Championship, said that Tuesday’s tournament role would be to “find a room and microphone.” It makes sense. “You have all the best players from around the world in one place.”
This week’s uncertainty is a reflection of the uncertainty that surrounds the PGA Tour as a whole. Since the last time the PGA Tour visited Memphis, the leaders of that tour have been forced to appear before the U.S. Senate and explain the legality of this merger between the Saudis PIF (which nobody calls a merger) and the PGA Tour. No one is sure of the future of the sport. Golfers are not sure.
Money is more important to college sports than anything else, and this has been detrimental to fans.
There will be a meeting on Tuesday. Everyone was caught off guard in June, after an entire year of treating LIV as the enemy. Woods’ inclusion on the policy committee is part of an effort to heal the rift that exists between golfers and those who run the game.
Woods can certainly help dictate terms, as he is still by far the most famous name in golf. Flying to Memphis might help. It would be a great opportunity for us to bring the biggest name in golf to this tournament, no matter how brief his stay at TPC Southwind may have been.
Tomek replied, “It had never crossed my mind.” “My understanding probably isn’t.” “It’s only Jay and the players.”
He thought about it some more.
Who knows? Tiger comes to Memphis. “I don’t know.”
