Tiger Woods believes golf is “going to heal quickly” as the PGA Tour edges closer to a merger agreement with LIV Golf’s backers.

Golf has been embroiled in a civil war ever since LIV launched in 2022. The Saudi-funded league has since attracted some of the sport’s biggest names – including Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm, Brooks Koepka, and Phil Mickelson – to leave the PGA Tour.

It was hoped the sport could be reunited after the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) – which bankrolls LIV – announced a framework agreement in June 2023. But the groundbreaking deal is yet to be finalized.

Donald Trump is now involved in the negotiations after he returned to the White House last month. The United States President recently met with the PGA Tour’s commissioner Jay Monahan and player director Adam Scott to discuss the future of golf.

Woods, who was speaking at the Genesis Invitational on Sunday, backed Trump as a catalyst for improving relations. “I think we’re in a very positive place right now,” he told CBS’s Jim Nantz. “We had a meeting with the President. Unfortunately, I had some other circumstances that came up, but Jay and Adam, they did great during the meeting and we have another subsequent meeting coming up.”

Woods was referring to the death of his mother Kultida, who passed away aged 80 earlier this month. Woods continued: “I think things are going to heal quickly. We’re going to get this game going in the right direction. It’s been heading in the wrong direction for a number of years and the fans want all of us to play together – all the top players playing together – and we’re going to make that happen.”

Woods said “yes” when Nantz asked if the world’s best players would all compete against each other in the next year. Four-time major champion Rory McIlroy, who struggled at the Genesis Invitational, expressed a similar view when asked about Trump’s role as a peacemaker in talks this week.

“The President, he can do a lot of things,” the Northern Irishman said. “He has direct access to Yasir [Al-Rumayyan, governor of the PIF]’s boss [Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia]. Not many people have that.

“Not many people can say, ‘I want you to get this deal done and by the way, I’m speaking to your boss, I’m going to tell him the same thing’… He [Trump] can be influential. I saw it when I was playing with Sheikh Hamdan of Abu Dhabi [on] the day [Trump] got elected in November. I don’t think people appreciate how much respect he has [in the Middle East].”

Swedish player Ludvig Aberg captured the 2025 Genesis Invitational, finishing 12 under through four rounds (and -6 on Sunday) to capture the title. American Maverick McNealy finished a stroke behind him in second at -11. Other big names including Scottie Scheffler, Tommy Fleetwood, and Justin Thomas all placed in the top 10. McIlroy finished tied for 17th at -3.