ウッズがＬＩＶとの交渉状況明かす 「進展」も決着へ「道のり長い」

【ルイビル（米国）ＡＦＰ＝時事】男子ゴルフのタイガー・ウッズは１４日、米国ツアーとサウジアラビアが後援するＬＩＶゴルフリーグとの事業統合について、交渉は進展しているが合意まではまだ道のりは長いと話した。（写真は男子ゴルフのタイガー・ウッズ）
　ウッズは米ツアーの方針委員会の一員として、サウジアラビアの政府系ファンド「公的投資基金」とツアーによる統合の枠組み合意を目指している。
　１６日開幕の第１０６回全米プロゴルフ選手権を前にした練習ラウンドを終えたウッズは、１年近くも続いている交渉について「恐らくファンもわれわれと同様、ゴルフや選手と関係のない話にうんざりしている。ファンはただ、われわれが一緒にプレーするところを見たがっている。それを実現する方法をこれから決めようとしている」と話すと、「ある程度の進展があるのは確かだが、決着までの道のりは長い」と明かした。
　さらにウッズは「われわれはＰＩＦと交渉している。現在進行中で、流動的だ。状況は日ごとに変わる」と話し、「進展はあるが、これは現在進行形の交渉で、やるべきことが山積みだ」とコメント。「大きくはないかもしれないが、前進はしている」と述べた。
　前日１３日には、実業家のジミー・ダン氏が方針委員会を辞任した。ダン氏は昨年６月に発表された物議を醸す統合の枠組み作成に関わった人物だが、複数メディアの報道によれば、昨年１２月の期限を大きく過ぎても決着がつかない交渉ペースの遅さにしびれを切らしたという。
　それでもウッズは、ゴルフの未来についてさまざまな意見をぶつけ合うことが前進につながると考えており、「議論や意見のまとまらない部分はあるが、ゴルフとツアーに関わる全員にとって最善のことをしたい。そうした衝突がなければ前進もできない」と話している。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2024/05/15-17:48）

Tiger Woods, among the negotiators in PGA Tour merger talks with Saudi backers of LIV Golf, said Tuesday there has been progress but a deal remains a long way off.
Speaking after a practice session at Valhalla for the 106th PGA Championship, which starts on May 16, Woods detailed the state of talks nearly a year after a framework merger deal was announced between Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) and the PGA Tour.
Fans are probably as tired as we are of the talk not being about the game of golf and about not being about the players, Woods said. The fans just want to see us play together. How do we get there is to be determined.
We've made some progress, yes, for sure, but there's a long way to go still.
Woods, a 15-time major winner, is a member of the PGA Tour Policy Board transaction subcommittee charged with hammering out a deal.
We're working on negotiations with PIF. It's ongoing. It's fluid. It changes day-to-day, Woods said. Has there been progress? Yes. But it's an ongoing negotiation so a lot of work ahead for all of us with this process.
We're making steps. It may not be giant steps, but we're making steps.
His update came a day after Jimmy Dunne resigned from the PGA Policy Board, multiple reports saying the businessman was unhappy at the slow pace of talks, which have gone well past last December's deadline.
Dunne helped create a controversial framework merger agreement unveiled last June 6 between PIF and the PGA Tour, an announcement blindsiding most players and a sudden reversal by PGA commissioner Jay Monahan, who had pushed them to reject LIV only to seemingly wave a surrender flag less than three weeks after LIV's Brooks Koepka won the 2023 PGA Championship.
Jimmy and the amount of work and dedication he put into the board and the PGA Tour, has been incredible, Woods said. It was a bit surprising that he resigned.
Dunne, in a resignation letter obtained by Sports Illustrated, said since players are a board majority and no meaningful progress has been made toward a transaction with PIF, I feel like my vote and my role is utterly superfluous.
Dunne touched upon divisions among what punishment PGA players might want for LIV players seeking a return, saying: It's crucial for the board to avoid letting yesterday's differences interfere with today's decisions.
Woods said differing views on golf's future is how progress is made.
We have arguments and we have disagreements, but we want to do what's best for everyone in golf and the tour, Woods said. Without those kind of conflicts, the progress is not going to be there.
That includes differences between Woods and Rory McIlroy, who is also on the negotiating subcommittee.
It's good to see it differently, but collectively as a whole we want to see whatever's best for all the players, fans and the state of golf, Woods said.
How we get there, that's to be determined, but the fact that we're in this fight together to make golf better is what it's all about.
- 'It's troubling' -
Golf remains a fractured sport, with top LIV and PGA stars meeting only at majors and television ratings down at the Masters and PGA events.
If you spend a lot of time on the internet, it does feel like professional golf is crumbling, ninth-ranked Max Homa said. When we're on the grounds of events, it's amazing. It doesn't feel like it's dying.
It has got to be exhausting to be a casual golf fan. It's troubling. I don't like where it's going.
Fans of golf should not know who is on the board. That just seems like a pretty obvious one, so that would be the goal going forward.
Homa wants golf's finest players reunited.
I hope at some point soon we can just get back to entertaining people, Homa said. We have a lot going on here but hopefully at some point everybody can find the plot again.