During a Fox News interview that aired on Monday, Tucker Carlson asked former world No. 1 Norman if it was true that Woods was offered $700-800 million to join the LIV Golf series.
“That number was there before I became CEO,” Norman replied. “So that number came out, yeah. Listen, Tiger is a needle mover, isn’t he?
“So, of course, you’re going to be looking at the best of the best. They had originally approached Tiger before I became CEO, so, yeah, that number is somewhere in that neighborhood.”
Previously, Norman told the Washington Post in June that Woods was offered a huge amount of money to participate, but turned it down. Norman said Woods’ proposal was “incredibly huge; we’re talking high nine figures.”
The controversial tour has attracted big names in the golfing world to leave the established PGA Tour and DP World Tour to compete for large sums of money.
Big winners Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Sergio Garcia, Louis Oosthuizen, Graeme McDowell, Charl Schwartzel and Martin Kaymer have all joined the separatist enterprise, which has offered players huge sums of money to to join.
The LIV Golf Series is backed by the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia – a sovereign wealth fund chaired by Mohammed bin Salman, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia – and has pledged to allocate $250 million to the total in price.
However, this has led to criticism from many players, including Rory McIlroy and Woods, that players have abandoned the traditional golf setup and accepted money from a country with a dismal human rights record. man.
Ahead of the July Open in St. Andrews, Scotland, Woods said he disagreed with the players who left.
“I think what they’ve done is they’ve turned their backs on what got them into this position,” the 15-time Major winner said.
“Some of these players may never get the chance to play in major leagues. That’s a possibility. We don’t know for sure yet. It’s up to all major league bodies to make that decision. But it’s a possibility that some players will never, ever have the chance to play in a major championship, never have the chance to experience that here, to walk the fairways of Augusta National .
“But what are these players doing for guaranteed money, what’s the incentive to train? What’s the incentive to go out there and earn it in the mud? You just get paid a lot of money ahead and play a few events and play 54 holes. They play loud music and have all these atmospheres that are different.”
Woods added: “I just don’t see how this decision is positive in the long run for a lot of these players, especially if the LIV organization doesn’t get world ranking points and major leagues change their criteria. registration for events.
“It would be sad to see some of these young kids never get the chance to experience it and experience what we are blessed to experience and walk on these hallowed grounds and play in these championships.”
Woods even went so far as to criticize Norman himself for his role in the breakaway tour. “Greg has done things that I don’t think are in the best interest of our game, and we’re probably going back to the most historic and traditional place in our sport.”
On Sunday, Henrik Stenson won the third event of LIV Golf’s first season in Bedminster, New Jersey.
Nearly two weeks after being stripped of his Ryder Cup captaincy for joining the series, the 46-year-old Swede shot 11 under par at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster to win $4 million.
He accepted the trophy alongside former US President Donald Trump, present throughout the three-day competition and owner of the course.
