It pays to be loyal. Not only in terms of goodwill but, more importantly, of wads of cash soon to line up the pockets of the non-switchers.
That seems to be the rosy picture showing up in the horizons for some 193 golfers who had stuck it out amid lucrative offers to shift allegiance.
For, if the reports would prove true, non-deserters are to be rewarded with eye-popping wealth without even swinging a club or showing up on the first tee mound.
Based on an AP (Associated Press) dispatch last week that was backstopped by an exclusive Telegraph report, players who stayed loyal to the Professional Golfers Association (PGA) Tour of the United States and Europe would receive money that could run to millions of dollars.
Recall that only a while back, many of the world’s top-notch players, including major winners like Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed and Jon Rahm, to name only a few, have joined the rival LIV Golf Tour brokered by Greg Norman.
With billions of dollars from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign funds backstopping LIV Golf, many scurried to join the rival Tour that usually staked a whopping $3 million for a leg winner. So tempting is the breakaway Tour, indeed, because it calls for only 54 holes to play to complete a tournament—and with no cut-off. The last placer even gets no less than $250,000. That crazy.
But still, Tiger Woods didn’t bite. It was even reported that Tiger refused at least $800 million to switch camps—and got warm applause for that from a throng that believed.
Of the 193 recipients of “loyalty” rewards from the PGA Tour, Tiger Woods got the lion’s share of $100 million, the Telegraph reported. Rory McIlroy, another rabid pro-PGA, could earn $50 million.
No other details were disclosed except that the $930 million from the PGA’s “Player Equity Program” would reportedly go to players based on their career performance the last five years and on how much their star power is.
By the way, Rahm, the 2023 Masters champion, was believed to have received millions for suddenly making a U-Turn after famously saying he’d never join LIV Golf. He said he did it “for my family.” Still, he got bashed.
A deserter has only eyes for the color of money.