Greg Norman says Tiger Woods rejected ‘obscene’ paycheck to play in LIV Golf Invitational Series
With the LIV tournament making waves in the golf wold, just why did golf’s most successful player say no to a lucrative offer?
Whether you take the former World #1 at his word or not, the reality is there was a whole lot of money on the table.
Greg Norman says Tiger Woods rejected massive LIV contract offer
According to an interview recently given by LIV Golf Investments CEO Greg Norman, Tiger Woods turned down an enormous amount of money to sign with the PGA’s rival golf league which is financed by the government of Saudi Arabia. Woods who is tied at No. 1 for the most PGA wins in golf’s history, is actually in the middle of a comeback having stepped away from the game due to injuries suffered in a car accident in late February. To date he has participate in two events this year with a showing at the Masters and then the PGA Championship. It should be noted that Woods himself has given no comment on any contract offer from LIV nor has he stated whether or not he was considering the offer.
Yet to hear Norman tell it, the offer was “Mind-blowingly enormous...We’re talking about high nine digits.” If that is in fact the case it would surprisingly not be a surprise with, LIV Golf having reportedly offered PGA legend Jack Nicklaus $100 million to serve in the role that Norman now holds. It is also understood that they are paying Dustin Johnson somewhere in the realm of $125 million to just put pen to paper on a contract that will see him play in the new league. Logically speaking any offer made to the man who has 15 majors to his name would have to be much higher.
Tiger Woods has his say
While one has to believe the temptation to accept such a lucrative offer must have been difficult to control, Woods has always maintained he’d be going nowhere. As recently as May the 46 year old former world No. 1 confirmed his stance ahead of the PGA Championship. “Phil [Mickelson] has said some things that I think a lot of us who are committed to the tour and committed to the legacy of the tour have pushed back against,” Woods said. “But I think that some of his views on how the tour could be run, should be run, been a lot of disagreement there. ...Obviously, we’re going to have difference of opinions, how he sees the [PGA] Tour, and we’ll go from there.”
Woods would go on to add, “I believe in major championships. I believe in big events, comparisons to historical figures of the past. There’s plenty of money out here. The Tour is growing. But it’s just like any other sport. It’s like tennis. You have to go out there and earn it. You’ve got to go out there and play for it. We have opportunity to go ahead and do it. It’s just not guaranteed up front.”
What is the LIV Golf Series Invitational
Announced back in March, The LIV Golf Series Invitational takes it’s name from the Roman number 54 which incidentally is the lowest score one can post in golf and is also the number of holes that participants will face in the varying events. The series is set to tee off with an inaugural event that is scheduled for June 9-11 at the Centurion Club in London. Alongside the aforementioned Johnson, there will also be a handful of former PGA Tour winners such as Talor Gooch, Kevin Na, Matt Jones and two former No. 1s in Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer. They will all be facing a 48 man field when the LIV gets underway in a few days. If you’re wondering about where the PGA stands in all of this, the tour has so far refused to grant any waivers releasing players to participate in the new Saudi Arabian league.