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Reports: Tiger Woods meeting with top PGA Tour players to talk taking on LIV Golf

The PGA Tour's top-ranked players are meeting to talk about LIV Golf.

They've invited a ringer.

Tiger Woods is traveling to the Wilmington, Delaware, site of the BMW Championship, on Tuesday to join them as they address the Saudi-backed rebel golf league and how best to approach its escalating infringement on the Tour. The Fire Pit Collective's Alan Shipnuck first reported the meeting on Monday.

On the table, per his report: major championship boycotts, Tour commissioner Jay Monahan's future and potential compromise. But mostly LIV Golf.

ESPN's Mark Schlabach confirmed the planned meeting and spoke with an unnamed player who was invited. Per his report, several of the world's top 20 players and other influential Tour members who haven't defected to LIV Golf will attend.

"It's a meeting to get the top 20 players in the world on the same page on how we can continue to make the PGA Tour the best product in professional golf," the anonymous player told Schlabach.

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Other than Woods, the reports didn't name the scheduled attendees. But the guest list could conceivably include World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, No. 3 Rory McIlroy and No. 5 Jon Rahm among others, all of whom have expressed solidarity with the PGA Tour and are scheduled to compete this week. McIlroy has been one of LIV Golf's most vocal critics.

ST ANDREWS, SCOTLAND - JULY 13: Tiger Woods of the United States looks on from the range during a practice round prior to The 150th Open at St Andrews Old Course on July 13, 2022 in St Andrews, Scotland. (Photo by Stuart Franklin/R&A/R&A via Getty Images)
Tiger Woods is meeting with some of the world's top golfers to discuss LIV Golf. (Stuart Franklin/R&A/R&A via Getty Images)

Unlikely to attend is world No. 2 Cameron Smith. The reigning Player's Championship and British Open champion is still technically an active member of the PGA Tour with the $18 million FedEx Cup prize at stake. But he's reportedly bolting for LIV GOLF on a $100 million deal that hasn't yet been announced. He withdrew from the BMW on Monday, citing a hip injury.

Also not invited, Monahan. This is a players-only meeting. Monahan is scheduled to meet with players in a regularly scheduled meeting on Wednesday.

Woods has been sporadically active on the golf course as he continues to recover from a 2021 car crash that left him with severe injuries and almost cost him his right leg. But he's been vocal about his distaste for LIV Golf and turned down a "mind-blowingly enormous" offer to join the league, according to CEO Greg Norman.

"I think that what they've done is they've turned their back on what has allowed them to get to this position," Woods said of LIV Golf players while speaking at the British Open in July. "Some players have never got a chance to even experience it. They've gone right from the amateur ranks right into that organization and never really got a chance to play out here and what it feels like to play a Tour schedule or to play in some big events. ...

"What these players are doing for guaranteed money, what is the incentive to practice? What is the incentive to go out there and earn it in the dirt?

Woods is not competing this week. He'll be in Delaware to talk business.