It’s a good day to be a PGA Tour player — and a really good day to be Tiger Woods.
The Telegraph is reporting that players are receiving the money they earned by not bolting for LIV Golf and accepting the huge offers that were being made by the rival league.
Woods received the biggest payday at $100 million, with Rory McIlroy coming in at around $50 million.
The funds were made available after a group of investors led by Fenway Sports, which also included Mets owner Steve Cohen, infused $1.5 billion into PGA Tour Enterprises in January.
In total, approximately $1 billion will be split — unevenly — between 193 golfers, according to The Telegraph.
How much a player gets is determined by career-long achievements, which is why Woods is getting paid so handsomely.
The Telegraph noted that the PGA Tour and commissioner Jay Monahan “have been at pains” to try to keep the financial breakdown under wraps, as it naturally could cause frustration from players receiving far less than the top group.
The top 36 players on the list are splitting up approximately $750 million, the 64 players who round out the top 100 are dividing $75 million, with $30 million going to the next 57 players.
The remaining $75 million is divvied up between 36 retired players who are considered living legends, per the report.
The other specific figures cited in the report were Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas, who will each rake in around $30 million.
The influx of cash comes as the PGA Tour, including Woods, has been in talks with PIF — the financial arm of the Saudi government that funds LIV.
While the specifics on the talks have been kept tight, a framework agreement that would like merge LIV and the PGA Tour in some form has been agreed to since June.
Aside from Woods, the significant cash the players are receiving still pales in comparison to what the top stars got for going to LIV Golf.
The likes of Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Phil Mickelson and Bryson DeChambeau reportedly were in the nine-figure range — or very close to it — to defect to LIV.
Jon Rahm reportedly got a whopping $450 million to make the LIV leap in December in what many viewed as a tipping point that would push the PGA Tour closer to a merger.
However, five months later the two sides remain in a vague negotiating phase.
Rumors surfaced last week that McIlroy was possibly headed to LIV Golf for $850 million, but he shot down that possibility in an interview with Golf Channel.
“I honestly don’t know how these things get started, I’ve never been offered a number [potential deal] from LIV and I’ve never contemplated going to LIV,” said McIlroy, who is returning to the PGA Tour Players Advisory Council after stepping down last year. “I think I’ve made it clear over the past two years that I don’t think it’s something for me.
“That doesn’t mean I judge people who have gone and played [LIV Golf]. One of the things I’ve realized over the past two years is people can make their own decisions for whatever they think is best for themselves and who are we to judge them for that? For me, my future is here on the PGA Tour.”
