Tiger Woods has declined a fee in the region of $800 million to turn its back on the PGA Tour and compete in the controversial LIV Golf, series CEO Greg Norman has confirmed.
LIV Golf, funded by Saudi Arabia’s public investment fund, has caused a huge rift in golf since it began poaching PGA Tour players by making huge payments to competitors. Players who have already signed up include Sergio Garcia, Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood.
Henrik Stenson was also stripped of Europe’s Ryder Cup captaincy for agreeing to join the series, and golfers who have accepted offers from Liv Golf have been roundly criticized by fellow players, pundits and fans.
Woods, 46, may have only won one major since 2008, but he remains the most recognizable name in the sport and the Saudi PIF was desperate to legitimize his series in the eyes of the public by securing his signature.
Now Norman has confirmed the staggering figure Woods rejected.
‘that number’ [$800m] was there before I became CEO,” Norman told far-right commentator Tucker Carlson in a Fox interview. “So that number has been there, yes.”
‘And look, Tiger is a needle mover and of course you have to look for the best of the best. So they had originally approached Tiger before I became CEO. So yeah, that number was somewhere around that.’
When asked why fans had reacted so negatively to LIV Golf, Norman was baffled.
“I don’t know… I really don’t care,” Norman replied. “I love the game so much and I want to grow the game of golf and we at LIV see that opportunity not only for the men, but also for the women.”
At LIV Golf events, 48-man fields compete over 54 holes, with up to $25 million being paid to the winner, but only Johnson has signed up from the current top 20 in the world. Stenson won the third event of the series at Trump National in Bedminster as the final weekend.
The PIF’s sports investments are highly controversial. It bought an 80 per cent stake in Newcastle from previous owner Mike Ashley last fall, in a controversial takeover that is part of the golf nation’s plan to ‘sport’ its international image.
Sportswashing is a common term that describes a nation with a bad global reputation that tries to whitewash its reputation by associating itself with successful sports institutions and cultural touchstones. Saudi Arabia has been hosting Formula 1 races since 2021 for the same reason, and the ownership of Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain respectively by the United Arab Emirates and Qatar is part of similar plans in those countries.
The PIF’s entertainment and technology investments include Facebook, Disney and Nintendo.
The countries of the Middle East mainly earn from oil, but now that the world has to leave oil behind and use more renewable energy sources in the future to avoid devastating climate change, they are trying to strengthen their economies through tourism and international influence through sport.
The public investment fund’s sports investments have been heavily criticized by human rights groups, with Saudi Arabia being one of the world’s worst performers on press freedom, LGBTQ+ and women’s rights, and the death penalty.
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