Tiger Woods turned down piles of cash to play in Saudi Arabia

Tiger Woods has done a fantastic job of amassing a vast fortune in his legendary PGA TOUR career, but he couldn’t be bought to go play in Saudi Arabia.

Tiger Woods, by the closest reports I can find, is worth somewhere between $800 million and a cool billion. He’s been raking in cash from sponsorships and TOUR victories longer than some of today’s young up-and-comers have been alive. It hasn’t always been easy, but suffice to say, it’s a good life.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whose government is in charge of operating the Saudi International golf tournament once again at the end of January, controls the purse strings to something like $1.4 trillion. With a “T”. Shall we say, that gives him some considerable buying power, especially when it comes to getting top-level Western entertainers to ply their craft in the Middle East.

By now, most of you are surely aware of the controversy surrounding the Saudi International, along with pretty much every other event that visits the Kingdom in exchange for a healthy payday. I’ve gone on record before saying I don’t personally fault anybody for making their money in a professional setting, but I also wouldn’t mind seeing a few more millionaires stay away from such a shallow money grab, if they think it’s the right thing to do.

Considering that Phil Mickelson just accepted an invitation that will force him to miss the Waste Management Phoenix Open for just the second time in 30 years, Tiger was the obvious next “get”. But Phil has also gotten absolutely eviscerated for his decision to play in Saudi Arabia. I don’t personally know the guy, so I’m not going to do that, but I also get why Woods would want to avoid having the same thing happen to him.

Woods did acknowledge that he had received the $3 million invitation to Saudi Arabia’s tournament, and he was polished in his response. “I just don’t want to go over there,” he told ESPN’s Bob Harig. “It’s a long way.”

A long way, sure, but a whole lot easier in private jets and with several millions waiting on the other end. The reason why he doesn’t want to go is private and Woods deserves the option to make that call for himself, but there’s almost certainly more behind it.

Woods did recognize the controversy, but also acknowledged the opportunity his colleagues had to bring their sport to an under-served region of the world.

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"“I understand the politics behind it,” Woods said. “But also the game of golf can help heal a lot of that, too. It can help grow it. And also a lot of top players are going to be playing there that particular week.“It’s traditionally not a golf hotbed, the Middle East. But it has grown quite a bit. I remember going to Dubai for my very first time and seeing maybe two or three buildings in the skyline. Now there is a New York City skyline. Again, golf has grown. There were only a few courses when I went to Dubai and now they’re everywhere. Same with Abu Dhabi, and maybe eventually in Saudi Arabia.”"

That’s the kind of vision that Tiger Woods has always espoused, and though it rings a bit hollow in today’s geopolitical climate, it’s at least a positive view on what has otherwise been a wildly negative situation overseas. And frankly, if any one person in today’s golf world can make it happen, it’s Woods himself.

What encourages me the most in all this is one simple fact: Tiger couldn’t be bought. That’s not a condemnation of those who have taken the massive paycheck, but rather a pleasant realization. Professional golf is, through its entire history and by its very nature, a cutthroat business to make the most money possible. And no matter the fortune, the answer to the question “how much is enough?” is always very simple. “More.”

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Tiger Woods had the easiest opportunity to get millions and millions of dollars for a couple days of golf in Saudi Arabia, and he was able to turn it down and walk away. He’s certainly not the only one, but it’s bigger than anybody who has chosen to go.

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