Greg Norman Claims Tiger Woods Turned Down ‘Mind-Blowingly Enormous’ Deal - Sports Illustrated
Norman has spearheaded efforts to recruit big-name golfers to LIV Golf, though he was unable to land the sport’s biggest figure.
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Phil Mickelson Returning To Golf In Saudi-Backed Tournament After Controversial Comments
Mickelson will reportedly receive a payday between $100 million and $200 million to play in the LIV Golf events funded by Saudi Arabia.
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Michelson, a ratings draw, will reportedly receive a payday between $100 million and $200 million to play in the events — and that’s before any prize money. He also intends to still play in PGA majors.
In February, the same month he played his last LIV Golf tournament, Mickelson told author Alan Shipnuck of the Saudis, “They’re scary mother****ers to get involved with…They killed [Washington Post reporter and U.S. resident Jamal] Khashoggi and have a horrible record on human rights. They execute people over there for being gay. Knowing all of this, why would I even consider it? Because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reshape how the PGA Tour operates.”
Greg Norman, the two-time major champion who’s now the CEO of LIV Golf Investments and has embraced the role of public recruiter, told Kent Babb of The Washington Post that LIV Golf made a “mind-blowingly enormous” offer to the face of golf worldwide: Tiger Woods.
“We’re talking about high nine digits,” Norman said, noting that Woods turned him and LIV Golf down.
Norman also discussed his relationship with another golf icon, Jack Nicklaus, who was described as a mentor for Norman. The two developed a close relationship, with Norman turning to Nicklaus in times of need to “vent for hours.” LIV Golf also pursued a partnership with Nicklaus, who said he turned down an over exceeding $100 million to run the league.
“One hundred percent truth? Jack’s a hypocrite,” he says. “When he came out with those comments, I’m thinking: Jack must have a short memory.”
While nine-digit deals are nothing new for LIV Golf, which reportedly offered $100 million to Jack Nicklaus to serve in Norman's role and is paying Dustin Johnson somewhere in the neighborhood of $125 million as a sign-on fee to play in its league, it stands to reason the pitch to Tiger was far higher than either of those.
Despite the temptation of such a payday, the 46-year-old will be going nowhere. He essentially confirmed his stance on the matter ahead of the PGA Championship in May.
"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," said Woods at Southern Hills. "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 later added: "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."
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Salute to Greg Norman for taking the bag. As an American yemen nor the middle east ain't my issue.
Tiger already has a Billi so if he doesn’t want to that’s on him but I would have took that shyt and told cacs to suck my ****
