Temptation of Saudi cash at LIV is in prize fund
Pat Perez said having a chance to be part of the Saudi-funded LIV Golf series was like winning the lottery. He wasn’t far off.
Perez didn’t mince words — he rarely does — when explaining his reason for joining. It was a chance to play less and get paid more. He even was seen at a welcome party in Oregon wearing a button-down shirt with prints of $100 bills, still not enough of them to reflect what he’s making.
It wasn’t the signing bonus, either. Perez made his debut at Pumpkin Ridge last month. He shot 6-over 222 and tied for 29th in the 48-man field with no cut. And then on Sunday at Trump National in New Jersey, Perez posted a 5-over 218 to tie for 31st.
Those two events brought him $1.804 million. Perez played 21 years on the PGA Tour and only twice earned more than that for an entire season.
He made $304,000 on his own. The other $1.5 million came from being on the winning team, led by Dustin Johnson and Patrick Reed, which paid $750,000 per player. Now consider that Perez still has five more LIV tournaments left this year, and perhaps 14 cash grabs next year unless he gets relegated, however that works.
This is the real payoff for players who have defected from the PGA Tour, and especially those who have not made it to the big leagues — such as the younger brother of Brooks Koepka (Chase) and U.S. Amateur champion James Piot — and who probably never will.
The signing bonus is an attention-getter. There have been unconfirmed reports of Phil Mickelson getting $200 million, Johnson receiving $150,000 and others like Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau also in the nine-figure range.
All of those figures are trumped by what Greg Norman said was “somewhere in that neighborhood” of $700 million to $800 million offered to Tiger Woods. The difference is that Woods turned it down. He also never entertained a $3 million appearance fee for the Saudi International when it was part of the European tour schedule three years ago.
The signing fees for the biggest names represent generational wealth, and it proved to be more valuable than their word.
It’s why Koepka one week was trying to rally PGA Tour loyalists to come up with a strong message and the next week was the latest addition to LIV Golf. It’s why Henrik Stenson signed a contract that pledged full support to the European tour as the next Ryder Cup captain and then changed his mind four months later to join the rival league.
Not to be overlooked is how prize money — $25 million for each event — can pile up quickly. After just three events, LIV Golf has produced 17 millionaires from earnings alone.
Branden Grace leads the way at nearly $6.7 million. In three events.
Along with a signing fee the Daily Telegraph reported at about $50 million, Stenson cashed in quickly inside the ropes. He won at Trump National, his team finished second and the Swede walked away with $4.375 million for one week.
And there’s more of that to come.
As long as Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund has money to burn — $405 million in prize money for 14 events next year, not to mention a signing bonus for players who are lucky to even get invited to the party — players will be cashing in.