Dec 16, 2023; Orlando, Florida, USA; Justin Thomas (right) watches Tiger Woods tee shot on the seventh hole during the PNC Championship at The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports
Tiger Woods recently met with President Donald Trump at White House in what is reported as a meeting to discuss the current situation in golf. The 15-time major champion has been one of the frontmen for the PGA Tour in the ongoing LIV-PGA debate since the breakaway tour’s inception. However, his circuit rival and friend Justin Thomas doesn’t think the legendary golfer ‘needs to do it.’
Woods has also been a major part of the negotiations between Saudi’s PIF and the American circuit. Back in 2022, the star golfer called out the then-LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman and questioned why LIV members would risk participating in future majors by joining the new circuit. According to Thomas, the then-46-year-old golfer’s actions were not lost on the current group of tour stars.
He addressed the 82-time PGA Tour winner’s willingness to put himself on the line for the circuit and dubbed it “pretty cool.”
Justin Thomas said of Tiger Woods in 2022, as quoted by Golf Digest:
“As a player who’s playing on this tour and having someone like him (Tiger Woods) going to bat for you and speaking on your behalf and knowing that everything he’s saying has myself and all of my peers’ best interests in mind is pretty cool, because he’s Tiger Woods, he doesn’t need to do that.
Who knows how much longer he’s going to play. Who knows, you know, what his future is going to hold, but he knows how much the PGA Tour has done for him and what the tour has meant to him and he wants to continue to see it be the best product and the best place to play in the world and he’s put in a lot of work to make sure that’s true.”
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When Tiger Woods appealed PGA Tour stars to stay on the circuit
Thomas’ comments on Tiger Woods came after the latter issued a strong-worded appeal to PGA Tour players in 2022. The legendary golfer, who led attacks on LIV Golf and its officials while still recovering from injuries suffered in a car accident in February 2021, addressed his lack of playing time and said that younger players must value the opportunities on PGA Tour.
Appealing to new players to not be swayed by the big paychecks offered by the Saudi circuit, Woods dubbed the American circuit the “best place to play golf.”
Tiger Woods said, back in 2022:
“I’m not going to be a player for much longer, but I think it’s more important that we recognize the past, and build a better future… How do you do that? Us coming collectively together, what Jack (Nicklaus) and Arnold (Palmer) did and Gary (Player), we’re trying to do the same thing now. We’re trying to leave the product better than what we came here with…
There were fewer playing opportunities when I came out on tour, less access than there is now. We need to keep doing that, we need to keep celebrating and keep enforcing that there are top players and recognize their ability to play around the world, to showcase their skills. And the best place to play is the PGA Tour. That’s where all the top players do play.”
It is pertinent to note that Woods and current Masters champion Rory McIlroy were among the biggest names opposing the introduction of LIV Golf. The duo, who kicked off TGL in 2025, had called out the breakaway tour for causing issues in the golf world.
Woods even addressed his long-term friend and business partner McIlroy’s role in the protests against the breakaway circuit and lauded the latter for being PGA Tour’s frontman during tough times at multiple occasions.
