In the last Masters, Tiger Woods made it clear that, at 48 years old and with the serious physical problems he faces, he will hardly win any of the major golf tournaments again. In Augusta, he had two good first rounds, but he struggled over the weekend with a 10-over-par round on Saturday and +5 on Sunday.
Nevertheless, Tiger is still the main commercial driving force of the PGA Tour and a key player in the organization's "civil war" against the LIV Golf, the Saudi tour that, thanks to its millionaire offers, "attracted" big names like Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, and Jon Rahm.
Woods, on the other hand, remained loyal to the PGA Tour and thanks to that loyalty he will receive a bonus of 100 million dollars.
Why will the PGA Tour pay a millionaire bonus to Tiger Woods?
The news was reported by the British newspaper The Telegraph, and in the article, they explain that the creation of PGA Tour Enterprises, a PGA company in partnership with Strategic Sports Group (SSG) where golfers have a stake, will allow for this profit sharing.
SSG is a consortium made up of the owners of several teams in the United States, led by John Henry and Fenway Sports Group, the owners of the Boston Red Sox, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Liverpool FC. The list also includes names like Steve Cohen (New York Mets), Arthur Blank (Atlanta Falcons), Thomas Ricketts (Chicago Cubs), and Wyc Grousbeck (Boston Celtics), among others.
This group has already made an initial investment of 1.5 billion dollars, and from there the money will be distributed among the golfers will come.
Tiger Woods will receive much more money than the other players
However, this distribution will not be fair, and a combination of formulas was applied to determine the amount that each golfer will receive.
First, a group of 36 players called "superstars" was created, who will have a higher amount than the rest, and also, according to The Telegraph, a metric was established that measures results throughout the player's career and the commercial impact of the golfer through ticket sales, sponsorships, and fan consumption.
With all those metrics on the table, Tiger Woods is incomparable: he won 15 majors in his career and in the recent Masters at Augusta he showed that he is still the most famous player in the world. That explains the 100 million dollars that PGA Enterprises will pay him.
The second on the list is the Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy, Tiger's business partner and ally in the fight against LIV Golf, who will receive 50 million dollars. Behind them are the names of Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas, who will receive 30 million dollars.
After the first group of 36 players who will receive the largest piece of the cake, the next 64 golfers will split 75 million dollars and then a group of 57 will divide 30 million dollars.
There is a big clause to collect the money.
However, this money cannot be deposited immediately into the bank account: only after four years, 50% will be paid, 25% two years later, and the remaining 25% two years after that. In other words, only after 2032 will they receive the total amount of money.
One of the conditions to collect is: Staying in the PGA Tour and not going to the LIV Golf.