World’s top golfers including No 1 Dustin Johnson, four-time major winner Brooks Koepka and England’s Justin Rose among those offered $30-50m to leave the PGA Tour and join $1bn Saudi-backed Premier Golf League
- A Saudi-backed global tour is offering a reported $1billion in prize money
- Contract sums for the top players have reportedly risen up to $50m (£36m)
- Proposed league would feature around 40 players competing in 18 tournaments
A Saudi-backed global tour offering a reported $1billion in prize money and player contracts has been dangled in front of the world’s top golfers.
The Saudis are clearly not prepared to take no for an answer, after being largely rebuffed by leading names when they presented their idea for a Premier Golf League last year.
Back then, the likes of Rory McIlroy and Brooks Koepka turned down contracts worth a rumoured $10m to break away from the PGA Tour in America and the European Tour.
Contract sums offered to the likes of Justin Rose have reportedly risen up to $50m (£36m)
According to reports on Tuesday night, contract sums now offered to Koepka and others like Justin Rose and world No 1 Dustin Johnson have risen to $30-50m.
‘The money is there,’ one agent told GolfWeek magazine. ‘I heard $1bn in total. This is real.’
The proposed league would feature around 40 players competing in 18 tournaments around the world with huge prize money at each event — in addition to contract revenue — and a season-ending championship.
The new projected start date is September next year but clearly it would only work if the vast majority of the top 40 decide to join.
Golf’s biggest names are to be asked to choose between Saudi money and the PGA Tour
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