Tiger Woods LIV Golf offer: Greg Norman reveals monumental proposal PGA Tour rival made to Woods

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Greg Norman revealed before the start of the LIV Golf tour's first event in June that the Saudi-backed start-up had made a "mind-blowingly enormous" offer to Tiger Woods to defect from the PGA Tour.

At the time, Norman said that LIV Golf's offer to Woods was in the "high nine digits."

Now, we know just how high Woods' potential payment was.

Norman discussed the offer with Fox News' Tucker Carlson in an interview that took place during LIV Golf's recent event at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster in New Jersey. Norman didn't confirm the exact number, but he indicated that the payment was in the $700 to $800 million range.

That number was out there before I became CEO. Look, Tiger is a needle mover, right? So, of course you're got to look at the best of the best. They had originally approached Tiger before I became CEO. That number is somewhere in that neighborhood.

Had Woods accepted that offer from LIV Golf, it would have been historic. To date, Woods has made $120,895,206 in his 26 years as a professional on the PGA Tour. The LIV Golf deal would have paid him at least five to six times that amount in a fraction of the time.

MORE: Full list of LIV Golfers and why they left the PGA Tour

In fact, the LIV Golf money wouldn't have just dwarfed Woods' career earnings either. It would exceed the entire combined career earnings of the top 10 PGA Tour earners of all time (as of Aug. 2, 2022). 

Rank Golfer Earnings
1 Tiger Woods $120,895,206
2 Phil Mickelson $94,955,060
3 Jim Furyk $71,507,269
4 Vijay Singh $71,236,216
5 Rory McIlroy $65,754,549
6 Adam Scott $58,832,083
7 Justin Rose $57,167,376
8 Matt Kuchar $54,850,719
9 Jordan Spieth $52,581,085
10 Justin Thomas $50,618,807
Total $698,398,370

Woods wouldn't have just made golf history in accepting that type of deal. He would have earned more than any other athlete in history for his on-field performance.

Woods would have blown by the likes of Tom Brady, LeBron James and Alex Rodriguez — the top lifetime earners in their respective sports per Spotrac.com and Baseball Reference — to reach that milestone.

Player Career earnings
Alex Rodriguez $399,285,104
LeBron James $387,384,119
Tom Brady $302,962,392

Even despite the monumental nature of LIV Golf's offer, Woods wasn't tempted by it. He turned it down and spoke out against players defecting from the PGA Tour at The Open Championship.

I disagree with it. I think that what they've done is they've turned their back on what has allowed them to get to this position.

“I know what the PGA Tour stands for and what we have done and what the Tour has given us," he later added. "The ability to chase after our careers and to earn what we get and the trophies we have been able to play for and the history that has been a part of this game."

MORE: Phil Mickelson addresses Tiger Woods' scathing LIV Golf comments at The Open

Tiger Woods' net worth

Of course, Woods is certainly uniquely positioned to be able to turn down an offer worth $700-$800 million. Why? Because it wouldn't even double his net worth. 

Forbes announced in June that they estimated Woods' net worth at over $1 billion. That makes him one of just three known athlete billionaires along with LeBron James and Michael Jordan.

Like James and Jordan, most of Woods' earnings have come via his off-the-field deals and endorsements. So, even when his golf career comes to an end, Woods will still have plenty of ways to earn money; that negates any need that he could have to accept an offer from LIV Golf.

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Jacob Camenker Photo

Jacob Camenker is a senior content producer at The Sporting News.