Tiger Woods Trashes Saudi Tour Which Reportedly Offered Him Nearly $1 Billion to Join: Don’t See How It’s a ‘Positive’

Tiger Woods, who reportedly spurned an offer of nearly $1 billion to join Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf, is no fan of the well-moneyed new tour which has poached many top players.

Speaking with reporters ahead of the 150th Open Championship at historic St. Andrews in Scotland, the golf legend — appearing in his first tournament since LIV Golf’s launch — blasted the Saudi-financed tour, arguing that the massive upfront money they have been offering to players completely takes away their urgency to perform well in tournaments.

“What these players are doing for guaranteed money … what is the incentive to practice?” Woods said. “What is the incentive to go out there and earn it in the dirt? You’re just getting paid a lot of money upfront and playing a few events and playing 54 holes.”

Woods also criticized the “blaring music” heard on the course and overall “atmospheres that are different” at the first two LIV Golf events. And he slammed LIV’s shortened 54-hole tournaments.

“Seventy-two hole tests are a part of [top-level golf],” Woods said. “We used to have 36-hole playoffs for major championships. That’s how it used to be, 18-hole U.S. Open playoffs.

“I just don’t see how that move is positive, in the long-term.”

Greg Norman, the golf Hall of Famer who is the CEO of LIV Golf, said he offered Woods a contract in the “high nine digits” to sign on. Phil Mickelson received a reported $200 million to join the tour, and others such as Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka are also believed to have gotten nine-figure contracts from LIV.

Watch above, via Sky Sports.