Tiger Woods is blasted by Pat Perez for questioning LIV Golf incentive

LIV Golf’s Pat Perez has taken a swipe at Tiger Woods after he questioned the incentive for fellow professionals to defect from the PGA Tour. 

The 15-time Major winner turned down the megabucks of the Saudi-backed series, rejecting a $700-$800million deal as he challenged the motives behind players switching from the traditional circuit.

The breakaway league has dominated headlines for the lucrative contracts involved and the guarantee of money for players no matter where they finish in competitions.

He said in July: ‘I don’t understand it. What these players are doing for guaranteed money, what is the incentive to practice? What is the incentive to go out there and earn it in the dirt?

‘You are just getting paid a lot of money up front and playing a few events and playing 54 holes.

‘They are playing blaring music. I can understand 54 holes for the Senior Tour. The guys are older and a little more banged up. When you are young, 72-hole tests are part of it. We used to have 36-hole play-offs for majors.

LIV Golf’s Pat Perez (R) has taken a swipe at Tiger Woods (L) after he criticized breakaway event

‘I just don’t see how this is positive in the long term. It would be sad to see some of these young kids never get a chance to walk these hallowed grounds and play in these majors.’

Perez, who was part of Dustin Johnson’s all-American team to win LIV Golf’s season-ending team championship at Trump National in Miami last month, has hit back at compatriot Woods.

‘That’s the stupidest s*** I have ever heard of in my life,’ Perez told the Son of a Butch podcast. 

‘That’s one of the stupidest things I think he has said. The incentive is the fact that last place is 120,000, first place is four million. You cannot win four million on the PGA Tour. 

Woods and Perez chat during a practice round prior to 2020 PGA Championship in California

‘Now, next year you might; they finally got the perks. But last time I checked, he signed a $40million deal right out of college, was flying on the Nike jet. He found incentive. He could have shut it down right then.

‘He had a lot of guarantees. You know what, and he was the hottest thing. He’s made so much money off the course, he found incentive to go.

‘But again, he only played how many tournaments. He didn’t go — I never saw him at John Deere, never saw him supporting all these events. He played in the majors, he played in the WGCs and that was it. He played Torrey. Never played Riv [Riviera]. 

Perez was part of Dustin Johnson’s all-American team to win LIV Golf’s finale in Miami

‘But he’s worth every dime. In fact, like I said, he’s two billion short of where he should be, I think.’ 

Perez signed a four-year deal to join LIV Golf prior to its Portland event at the end of June. 

‘I have no ill feelings toward the PGA Tour or any of the players. I’m a LIV guy 100 percent,’ he said.

‘I’m going to play for them. But I don’t feel any need to go after the PGA Tour. They gave me a wonderful opportunity for 21 years.

‘I’ve got nothing against them, no hard feelings toward anybody. I earned everything I got out there, don’t get me wrong.’

Perez is a three-time winner on the PGA Tour, earning more than $28m throughout his career. 

Woods is set to return to golf at next month’s Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas after last appearing at The Open in the summer.