Throughout his career, Tiger Woods has represented so many new and innovative things in the game of golf. He’s done more for the game than any player since Arnold Palmer. And yet the funny thing is that to his core, Woods is old school. A student of history, one whose advice to others respects an appreciation for how the game should be played.
And it turns out, he’s still willing to put his money where his mouth is.
During a stretch where we’ve seen players like Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson threaten their good standing with the PGA Tour, where they’ve spent the entirety of their career so far, Woods has reportedly done the opposite.
That’s according to Greg Norman, the CEO of LIV Golf Investments, who in an interview with the Washington Post said the 15-time major champion refused an “enormous” offer to join.
From the story: The tour’s consultant also pitched representatives for Woods, who once staged his own public coup with the PGA Tour over marketing rights. Norman says Woods turned down a deal that was “mind-blowingly enormous; we’re talking about high nine digits.”
Woods’ representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A nearly $1 billion offer?
High nine digits would, of course, imply the total to sign onto the tour is over $500 million, and perhaps even closer to $1 billion. For context, Woods has earned just shy of $121 million on the course in his career, and Forbes estimates his overall net worth at $1.7 billion as of this year.
Though, of course, whatever element of truth there is to Norman’s comments probably overshadows the various complexities involved in a deal that large. The total would likely represent a top-line number that would include a signing-on fee, but would also be dependent on making a certain number of starts, an ownership stake on the potential future value of the LIV series and royalties from ticket sales, among other things.
Nevertheless, the fact of the matter is Woods reportedly refused what was no doubt an eye-watering sum, and in doing so, held true to a statement he made in support of the PGA Tour late last year.
“That’s where my legacy is,” he said.