Tiger Woods Turned Down Historic Offer to Join LIV Golf

Tiger Woods is not a fan of LIV Golf and turned down a historic offer from the organization. Golf legend Greg Norman, who is the CEO and commissioner of LIV Golf, recently appeared on Tucker Carlson Tonight and said that LIV Golf approached Woods and offered him between $700 million and $800 million to play in the new league. Norman said this happened before he was named CEO and commissioner of LIV Golf. 

"That number was out there before I became CEO," Norman told Tucker Carlson during an interview at a LIV Golf Invitational Series event at Trump National Gilg Club Bedminster in New Jersey, per ESPN. "Look, Tiger is a needle mover, right? So, of course, you're got to look at the best of the best. They had originally approached Tiger before I became CEO. That number is somewhere in that neighborhood."

Last month, Woods, who has been supportive of the PGA Tour, spoke to reporters about players jumping from the PGA Tour to LIV Golf. "I disagree with it," Woods said.  "I think that what they've done is they've turned their back on what has allowed them to get to this position." Woods also talked about how LIV Golf affects the future of the sport. 

"Who knows what's going to happen in the near future with world-ranking points, the criteria for entering major championships," Woods said. "The governing body is going to have to figure that out. Some of these players may not ever get a chance to play in major championships. That is a possibility. We don't know that for sure yet. It's up to all the major championship bodies to make that determination. But that is a possibility, that some players will never, ever get a chance to play in a major championship, never get a chance to experience this right here, walk down the fairways at Augusta National."   

LIV Golf was founded in 2021 and owned by the Public Investment Fund. 2022 is the first season of the LIV Golf Invitational Series and includes eight 54-hole tournaments and 48 players who will not be cut after the second round. For 2023, LIV Golf announced it will have 14 tournaments with a prize fund of $405 million.