LIV’s eye-watering $800m offer could not tempt Tiger to join up

LIV Golf chief executive Greg Norman has revealed that Tiger Woods turned down an offer of around $800million (£650m) to join the breakaway tour. Woods has been opposed to LIV Golf since late last year — and he delivered his strongest comments just weeks ago at The Open when he said players who took the money funded by the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund had ‘turned their back’ on the PGA Tour that made them famous. When exactly an offer was made to Woods (right) was not clear — but Norman yesterday revealed it was ‘somewhere in that neighbourhood’ of $700m to $800m to take part in the series. ‘That number was out there before I became CEO. So that number has been out there, yes,’ Norman told Fox News. ‘And, look, Tiger is a needle-mover and of course you have to look at the best of the best. ‘So they had originally approached Tiger before I became CEO. So, yes, that number was somewhere in that neighbourhood.’ Various reports have said Phil Mickelson received a $200m (£164m) signing bonus, while Dustin Johnson received $150m (£123m). The 48-man fields, which play 54 holes with no cut, offer $25m (£20m) in prize money at each event. Norman announced a 14-tournament schedule for next year. LIV Golf currently has one player — Johnson at No 18 — from the top 20 in the world. The source of the funding has led to sharp criticism of the series and the players who have enlisted because it is viewed as an attempt to distract attention from Saudi Arabia’s human rights record and links to the September 11 terrorist attacks. Asked why his rival tour has caused such an uproar among American golf fans, Norman said: ‘I don’t know... I really don’t care. ‘I just love the game so much and I want to grow the game of golf. ‘We at LIV see that opportunity not just for the men but for the women.’