Tiger Woods turned down a staggering amount of money to join LIV Golf.
In an interview Monday with Fox News, Greg Norman, CEO of the upstart league, confirmed that Woods rejected an offer somewhere in the $700 million to $800 million range. Norman added that the proposal was sent to Woods’ team before Norman joined LIV as CEO in October 2021.
“Look, Tiger is a needle-mover, right?” Norman told the network. “So, of course you are going to look at the best of the best. So they had originally approached Tiger before I became CEO. So, yes, that number is somewhere in that neighborhood.”
In June, Forbes estimated that the 46-year-old Woods’ net worth was believed to be at least $1 billion.
Norman had previously said that Woods rejected a deal that was “mind-blowingly enormous” and in the “high nine figures.” He claimed that both Woods and Jack Nicklaus didn’t sign on with LIV because they wanted to preserve their “generational legacies.”
Woods is not close with Norman, who preceded Woods’ dominant run on Tour and spent the second-most weeks at world No. 1 (331). And it was clear from Woods’ candid comments at St. Andrews that he and LIV officials have philosophical differences.
In some of the most pointed public remarks of his career, Woods said that he didn’t understand how players could sacrifice the chance to play in major championships to join a tour that, as it currently stands, does not offer world-ranking points. He also didn’t see the appeal of 54-hole events when the pay was guaranteed upfront: “What is the incentive to go out there and earn it in the dirt?” he said.
“I disagree with it,” he said of the defectors. “I think that what they’ve done is they’ve turned their back on what has allowed them to get in this position.”
Bankrolled by the Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, LIV has reportedly spent about $1 billion to lure some of the most high-profile players away from the PGA Tour, including Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau. LIV just completed its third of eight scheduled events this year. In 2023, the rival circuit is expected to roll out a 14-tournament schedule and its full league format.