Tiger Woods turned down an offer that Greg Norman said was “somewhere in the zone” between $700 million and $800 million to join the Saudi-backed LIV Golf series.
On Monday night’s Fox News show with Tucker Carlson, Norman confirmed what he told the Washington Post two months ago. Norman told the Post in June that the offer was “enormous; We’re talking about the first nine digits.”
Woods made his harshest comments when he said that since late last year, LIV Golf’s rival and players who received money at the British Open funded by Saudi Arabia’s Sovereign Wealth Fund “returned” on the PGA Tour. popular
It is unclear when the offer was made to Woods.
“This number was known even before he became CEO. So find the number, yes,” Norman said in an interview with Fox News at Trump National in Bedminster, NJ, home of the third LIV Golf Invitational on Sunday.
“Look, Tiger is a needle, and of course you have to look for the best of the best,” said Norman. “They approached Tiger before I became CEO. So yeah, that number is somewhere in that area.
Various reports from the UK state that Phil Mickelson received a $200 million signing bonus and Dustin Johnson received $150 million. The 48-player courses, played 54 holes continuously, offer $25 million in prize money at each event. Norman has announced a schedule of 14 tournaments for next year.
LIV Golf currently has only one player in the world’s top 20 – Johnson number 18.
The source of the funding has been heavily criticized for the series and the cast, as it is seen as an attempt to distract attention from its human rights record and its connections to the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
When asked why his opponent’s round had caused such a buzz among American golfers, Norman bluntly replied, “I don’t know.”
“I don’t care,” said Norman. “I love the game and I want to improve the game of golf, and at LIV we see this as an opportunity not only for men but also for women.”
The LIV Golf Invitational takes a month off during the PGA Tour FedEx Cup playoffs, returns an hour west of Boston on Labor Day weekend, and plays in the Chicago suburb two weeks later.
___
More AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Source: Breitbart
