If guaranteed prize money didn’t seem like payment enough, wait until you see how LIV golfers travel.
Picture how a mini-tour player gets around — cheap flights, long drives and scrambling to make tee times — and now imagine the polar opposite: an all-inclusive private jet with a well-stocked bar and presumably no concerns about wandering luggage.
Recent LIV signee Pat Perez was the highlight of a video making the rounds on TikTok and Twitter before it was taken down Thursday afternoon.
Perez recently competed in the second LIV event at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club, in Oregon, but it wasn’t his first time at this site. In 1996, he played in the U.S. Amateur at Pumpkin Ridge alongside Tiger Woods, who won the event for the third year in a row. Back then, Perez fired a 68 in stroke play and didn’t earn a penny. This year, he shot a final-round 80 and pocketed a cool $900,000.
Perez celebrated his paycheck by singing along to Queen’s “We Are the Champions.” Individually, he finished 34th out of 48 last week.
Other LIV players were also enjoying the commute. Recently married Brooks Koepka and his wife Jena Sims were on board, as was Dustin Johnson, who can be seeing meandering through the party-ready cabin.
Michael Farley, who originally posted the video, wrote on his TikTok page that the jet was for players and caddies.
Most pros pay their loopers at least 10 percent of tournament earnings, or a set fee if the player doesn’t make the cut. With minimum earnings being north of $100,000 for each LIV event, no cuts and travel expenses covered, LIV caddies are earning more than most professional golfers.
Three LIV golfers made more money at the Portland-area LIV event than what the winner of this week’s Genesis Scottish Open will take home, and all 48 players in the LIV field made more than what the 19th-place finisher will earn.
So long, economy class!
