Tiger Woods could not offer much of a timetable Tuesday on PGA Tour negotiations with the Saudi backers of LIV Golf or his own future as a player.
Woods is the tournament host of the Hero World Challenge this week, and that's his only role at Albany Golf Club in the Bahamas. He has played the holiday tournament only once since 2019, missing this year while recovering from a sixth surgery on his lower back.
“I'm not tournament sharp yet, no. I'm still not there,” Woods said. “These are 20 of the best players in the world and I'm not sharp enough to compete against them at this level. So when I'm ready to compete and play at this level, then I will.”
A big part of his time is occupied by PGA Tour business matters. Woods was appointed to the PGA Tour board a year ago with no term limits, and he also is on the board of the commercial PGA Tour Enterprises.
There has been movement on negotiations for the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia to become a minority investor in PGA Tour Enterprises — the tour already has a $1.5 billion investment from Strategic Sports Group and a player equity program. PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan played in the Dunhill Links Championship on the European tour with the PIF governor, Yasir Al-Rumayyan.
Monahan also played golf with President-elect Donald Trump, who had said he could fix golf's mess in about 15 minutes.
“I think all of us who have been a part of this process would have thought it would have happened quicker than this,” Woods said.
He suggested any deal still would have required Justice Department approval.
“But things are very fluid, we’re still working through it, it’s happening daily,” Woods said. “From a policy board standpoint or from an enterprise standpoint, things are moving and they’re constructive.”
In the meantime, Bloomberg reported last week the European tour is talking with PIF separately, leading to suggestions of a shared schedule in which players from the European tour and LIV Golf could play on each circuit.
“We all want to get past this and to do what’s best for the tour and in trying to do that, there’s going to be ... some eggs are going to be knocked over and it’s going to be a little bit difficult at times,” Woods said. “But in the end we’re going to get a product that’s better for all the fans and all the players that are involved and get some peace that the game desperately needs.”
As for his own future, Woods was not certain. He was not asked if he planned to play in two weeks at the PNC Championship with his son, Charlie. It's a 36-hole event hosted by the PGA Tour Champions, so Woods could ride in a cart. He has played it each of the last four years.
He looked back at 2024 as a lost year, primarily because of his ailing back that began to spasm as the year went on.
Woods had set a goal of playing a big tournament once a month through the majors season, but that fell apart early when he missed The Players Championship in March. He set a Masters record by making his 24th consecutive cut, but then only played at the next three majors and was gone by the weekend at each of them.
He had a microdiscectomy in September to alleviate pain down his legs, but he had no idea how often he could play in 2025.
“Whether my commitment going forward is once a month, yeah, I could say that all over again,” Woods said. "But I truly don’t know. I’m just trying to rehab and still get stronger and better and feel better, really give myself the best chance I can going into next year.
“This year, I had to toss it away and I wasn’t as sharp as I needed to be and I didn’t play as much as I needed to going into the major championships and I didn’t play well at them,” he said. “Hopefully next year will be better. I’ll be physically stronger and better. I know the procedure helped and hopefully that I can then build upon that.”
AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
FILE - Tiger Woods watches his son Charlie Woods during the second round of stroke play at the U.S. Junior Amateur Golf Championship on July 23, 2024, in Bloomfield Township, Mich. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)
DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apr 4, 2025--
The SW Graduate School of Banking at SMU Cox (SWGSB), a nationally renowned source for banking executive education, has announced the SW Graduate School of Banking’s highest honors for 2025. H. Gary Blankenship, chairman, CEO and chief lending officer of Bank of the West, will be honored with the Distinguished Service Award on May 29, 2025, and Ron Butler, chairman and CEO of First Financial Bank Abilene Region, executive vice president and CAO of First Financial Bankshares, Inc., and a graduate of SWGSB Class XXXVII, will be honored with the Distinguished Alumnus Award on June 5, 2025.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250404488736/en/
“We’re proud to announce these award recipients who have contributed immense time and talent to the betterment of their communities, their banking institutions, and SWGSB,” said William T. Chittenden, Ph.D., president and CEO of SWGSB. “They represent the best of SWGSB, and we are honored to present them with these awards.”
H. Gary Blankenship
Distinguished Service Award
Born in Lockney, Texas in 1940, Gary Blankenship began his banking career as a National Bank Examiner with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency stationed in Denver, Boulder, and Grand Junction, Colorado. He has been chairman and CEO of Greater Southwest Bancshares, Inc., and Bank of the West since chartering the bank in 1986. Bank of the West has grown to include nine locations in Texas in Flower Mound, Grapevine, Horseshoe Bay, Irving, Lewisville, Marble Falls, Ponder, and Vernon. Blankenship embodies the bank’s motto of, “It’s personal with Bank of the West.” He was previously president and CEO of two other local banks and served several years in the corporate structure of other large Texas banking organizations as an officer and director.
A leader in the industry and his community, he has served on the Texas Department of Banking Commissioner’s Council, as a trustee on the Independent Bankers Association of Texas Insurance Bond Trust, and as a director of National Bancshares of Texas, Inc. He previously served on the board and as vice chairman of Adfitech, a mortgage technology and consulting company. Blankenship is a director of The Independent Bankers Bank (TIB), a $2.9 billion-asset bank that serves as a national community correspondent bankers bank.
Blankenship received the prestigious Chairman’s Award for the Independent Bankers Association of Texas. In 2013, he and his wife, Cynthia, were named recipients of the prestigious D. E. Box Citizens of the Year Award for Grapevine, Texas. He was named one of the top 500 Most Powerful Business Leaders in Dallas-Fort Worth for 2016 and 2017.
Blankenship is an active community servant and is a member of the boards of directors of the Irving Chamber of Commerce, Irving Symphony, and Dallas Summer Musicals. He has a master’s of Business Administration in Accounting from the University of Dallas.
Blankenship graduated from West Texas State University, now known as West Texas A&M, with a bachelor’s degree in Finance and Accounting in 1969 and received a master’s of Business Administration from the University of Dallas in 1982. He has completed various other courses in commercial lending, bank accounting, and one year of law school.
Married to Cynthia Blankenship, a banker and cofounder of the Bank of the West, they have three daughters, three granddaughters, and one grandson. Their daughters are also involved in the bank and/or mortgage company.
Ron Butler
Distinguished Alumnus Award
Ron Butler is the chairman and CEO of First Financial Bank Abilene Region in Abilene, Texas, a $14 billion bank with 79 branches located throughout Texas. Butler is also executive vice president and CAO of First Financial Bankshares, Inc. He has been with First Financial for 31 years and previously was CEO of First Financial Bank in Eastland and Stephenville.
Butler has been active in the community serving on numerous boards and is the former board chair of the Abilene Industrial Foundation and Abilene Chamber of Commerce. He also serves on the Advisory Council of the Excellence in Banking program at the Rawls College of Business at Texas Tech University. Butler served a six-year term on the Brazos River Authority board of directors, appointed by Governor Rick Perry.
He has served numerous terms as a director of the Texas Bankers Association and is currently serving as its vice chair. He was inducted into the Texas Bankers Hall of Fame in 2023. Butler has a bachelor’s of Business Administration degree from Texas Tech University and a master’s of Business Administration degree from Tarleton State University. He is a graduate of SWGSB Class XXXVII. Butler was named a Distinguished Alumni by Texas Tech University in 2024.
Married to Lorilei Butler, and they have two grown children, a son and a daughter who are also graduates of the Rawls College of Business at Texas Tech University.
To learn more about SWGSB’s nationally renowned program that propels careers, visit www.swgsb.org/summer2025.
ABOUT THE SW GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BANKING AT SMU COX
Since 1957, the SW Graduate School of Banking at SMU Cox (SWGSB) has educated and empowered bankers in all positions, other financial services professionals and affiliates, regulators, bank directors, and aspiring bank directors with knowledge and relationships that strengthen careers, organizations, and communities. SWGSB is a nationally recognized leader in banking and commercial lending education, bank management training, and bank director training programs. Learn more at swgsb.org or call 214.768.2991 for more information.
SW Graduate School of Banking 2025 Distinguished Service Award Honoree H. Gary Blankenship, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer/Chief Lending Officer, Bank of the West and 2025 Distinguished Alumnus Award Honoree Ron Butler, Chairman and CEO of First Financial Bank Abilene Region/Executive Vice President and CAO of First Financial Bankshares, Inc.
