Tiger sounds more optimistic about his game than a Saudi deal getting done on time

Tiger Woods sounded more optimistic about playing golf next year than he did about the PGA Tour finalizing a deal with Saudi Arabia or private investors by the end of the year.

Woods addressed reporters Tuesday for the first time in nearly eight months, and so much has happened since then — fusion surgery on his right ankle that kept him out of golf, the PGA Tour’s shocking agreement with the backers of LIV Golf and his decision to join the PGA Tour board for the first time in his career.

He is playing the Hero World Challenge, his holiday event in the Bahamas for 20 top players. Woods said his ankle — but not the rest of his body — is pain-free and even suggested he hopes that he can play once a month next year, starting with the Genesis Invitational at Riviera.

Woods was most candid about his frustration that he and other players were blindsided by the secret negotiations by PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan and two high-profile board members that led to the agreement announced June 6 with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia.

“We were very frustrated with what happened and we took steps going forward to ensure that the player involvement … we were not going to be left out of the process like we were,” he said. “So part of that process was putting me on the board and accepting that position.”

He also expressed faith in Monahan as one reason he agreed to join the board, “what he can do going forward and what can’t happen again.”

He was far more vague on details, not surprising since the board negotiations are private. Woods said only there were options, a lot of moving parts and that all sides were working aggressively toward finalizing a deal.

“All the parties are talking and we’re aggressively working on trying to get a deal done,” he said. “We’re all trying to make sure that the process is better, too. So the implementation of governance is one of the main topics (along) with getting the deal done, but making sure it’s done the right way.”

The agreement for a for-profit commercial enterprise was with PIF and the European tour. Now there are five private equity groups wanting to get involved, such as Fenway Sports Group and a Friends of Golf, a group that includes Henry Kravis and George Roberts.

The agreement announced in June set a Dec. 31 deadline to be finalized, though there was a clause that it could be extended.

“I am confident a deal will get done in some way,” Woods said. “Whether that comes Dec. 31 or is pushed back, all sides understand we’re working together.”

Among the topics is a fair pathway back to the tour for LIV players who want to return, and where team golf can fit in. He said the future appeared just as murky for those working on the agreement as it might seem to those on the outside.

“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,” he said. DOUG FERGUSON, Golf Writer, MDT/AP