For about 100 years, the golf world was controlled by the PGA Tour. Founded in 1929, the PGA tour held an iron grip over every aspect of the sport. Everything from where tournaments were held, who could participate, how much prize money was doled out… all the way down to player dress code.
That iron grip was upended a year ago with the entrance of an upstart rival league called LIV Golf. As you probably know, LIV Golf was backed by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, which is essentially a bottomless well of oil money.
Without wasting a moment, LIV turned the golf world upside down. Want to wear shorts during a tournament? Go for it. Want to play all over the world at courses the PGA would never consider visiting? You got it. Want your travel expenses reimbursed? No problemo. Want to make way way way more money in a tournament even if you finish dead last? Done.
LIV was the antidote to all the gripes that people have been… griping about… the PGA for decades.
To top it all off, LIV was not at all shy about using its bottomless well of oil money to convince some of golf's biggest names to abandon the stodgy, controlling PGA and join the fun, new upstart.
LIV essentially bribed 48 players to join the league with enormous one-time paydays. These players didn't have to win any tournaments for these paydays, they were signing bonuses to compensate them for leaving the PGA.
Compensation was fair because any player who went to LIV knew they ran the risk of seriously pissing off the PGA. And that's exactly what ended up happening. After a few massive players went to LIV, the PGA attempted to stem the losses by a) banning those turncoat players for life and b) assuring all remaining players that if they went to LIV they would also be banned for life.
Here are a handful of players and the amounts they accepted to join LIV:
- Phil Mickelson was paid $200 million to join LIV. At the time he took the check, Phil was 51 years old and on the back-nine of his career.
- Dustin Johnson – $125 million.
- Bryson DeChambeau – $125 million.
- Brooks Koepka – $100 million.
- Cameron Smith – $100 million.
- Bubba Watson – $50 million.
Total it all up and those six players alone got a combined $800 million to join LIV. And there were 42 other players who got checks.
Either out of loyalty to PGA, or a simple fear that the new upstart league would fail and then they'd be banned from the PGA for life, a bunch of players rejected LIV.
Take 34-year-old Rory McIlroy. At the time LIV approached Rory, his career PGA earnings were around $70 million.
The payday Rory turned down?
$500 million
After he rebuffed the Saudis, Rory complained that younger players joining LIV "are taking the easy way out."
Well… after a year of threats and legal fights the PGA tour is ALSO taking the easy way out.
This morning it was revealed that the PGA tour and LIV Golf were merging.
So as it turned out, Rory could have been $500 million richer today ($250-300 million after taxes), AND still end up a member in good standing with the PGA. That's his reward for loyalty.
And Rory isn't the only player who turned down an enormous LIV payday…
(Photo by GLYN KIRK/AFP via Getty Images)
Rejected Money
We can't know a complete list of the players who rejected LIV and the amounts they turned down, but through various reports and revelations we do know a few of the most notable players and rejections.
Below is a list of players and the LIV paydays they rejected:
Will Zalatoris – $130 million
Hideki Matsuyama – $300 million
Rory McIlroy – $500 million
Tiger Woods – $800 million
Turning down $800 million is easier when you're Tiger Woods and you already have a net worth of $800 million, but this was not an easy rejection for many, many players. Especially young players.
Take Will Zalatoris.
LIV offered Will Zalatoris $130 million to join the league. At the time he was 25 years old and his total PGA winnings came to $15 million (pre-tax). There was no guarantee he would ever make anywhere close to $130 million in his career, let alone from a single check. He could have gotten injured the very next day. Or he could have stayed perfectly healthy and scrapped together $130 million in earnings over several DECADES of play.
How do you think Will is feeling this morning?
Jordan Spieth famously also did NOT join LIV. The amount of money he could have gotten is not known, but using Hideki Matsuyama as a comp, one must assume $300+ million. When Golf Monthly asked Jordan about joining the rival league last year, he reiterated that he "was not in discussions with LIV and is fully supportive of and happy on the PGA Tour." At the time he made that happy statement, Jordan's PGA tournament earnings came to $76 million. I wonder how happy and supportive he is feeling today?
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