07 July 2023 , 16:34
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Phil Mickelson hosted one of Tiger Woods ' allies in Hero MotoCorp CEO Pawan Munjal at LIV Golf on Thursday after the Indian businessman played alongside the six-time major winner in the LIV London pro-am.
Munjal is no stranger to the world of professional golf having featured alongside Woods on a number of occasions in the hosting of the PGA Tour's Hero World Challenge event. As a result, Munjal's motorcycle company is the lead sponsor of the event that takes place in the Bahamas each year.
The Indian businessman often takes a seat alongside Woods in the event's pre-tournament press conference, including when Woods made his first public press appearance following a high-speed car accident in 2021.
It appears Munjal also has allegiances elsewhere though, after joining Woods' great rival Mickelson out on the course at Centurion earlier this week. The billionaire CEO's decision to appear at LIV Golf may have come as a surprise to many after Hero initially distanced itself from the breakaway league.
Indian star Anirban Lahiri was previously sponsored by Hero but then had his contract terminated after he made the decision to join LIV last year. The motorcycle company has also had a partnership with the DP World Tour, as well as the PGA Tour and Woods.
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Pawan Munjal and Tiger Woods have worked alongside each other previouslyEarlier this year, Munjal's company sponsored a match-play tournament on the Wentworth-based circuit, which saw a Great Britain and Ireland team take on Continental Europe in the Middle East. Last month the world of golf was shocked after the PGA Tour announced a groundbreaking deal with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia (PIF), that will see them work in unison under the name 'NewCo' with LIV and the DP World Tour.
Having worked with two of the three NewCo setups, it appears Munjal could also team up with LIV Golf too. Back in October, LIV's only Indian star, Lahiri, discussed the prospect of the breakaway league hosting an event in his home country.
Amid speculation LIV was looking to spread their events across the globe, the Smashers GC star said: "I would definitely try and lean [on LIV] for certain tournaments to be scheduled in a way [that allows] for my involvement and my presence. That region [Asia] is starved of top-quality golf."