Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy promised ‘reward’ after LIV Golf merges with PGA

PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan has promised both Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy they will be “rewarded for their loyalty” after rejecting eye-watering offers from LIV Golf last year. Golfers who chose to stick with the PGA Tour last year have been made to pay for snubbing an approach from LIV Golf after a merger between the two rival tours was announced this week.

The decision came as a shock to many with LIV Golf and the PGA Tour previously involved in a bitter legal battle. It also put a spotlight on the kind of money both Woods and McIlroy reportedly turned down 12 months ago when LIV Golf made their approach.

Woods was said to have been offered an offer close to £1billion while McIlroy’s offer was in the region of £400m. Meanwhile, Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau were all handed millions for signing on with LIV Golf.

And it now appears as though McIlroy and Woods’ decision to decline the huge sums of money was in vain following news of the merger. However, Monahan has promised to reward the likes of Woods and McIlroy for showing “loyalty” to the PGA Tour.

“Their loyalty will be rewarded,” Monahan said. “I’m going to spend every single waking hour as we move forward here, we finalise this agreement and we move into the future, that the players that have created the PGA Tour, have created this pro-competitive, legacy-driven juggernaut, that have articulated and supported the direction that we’re going on – ultimately, the decision we made, I believe, is going to make it better for all of our players, and loyalty, ultimately, as a leader, always needs to be rewarded.

“How that manifests itself is something I’m going to spend a lot of time working on. And I think when we’re having this conversation down the road, that’s something I look forward to being more specific about.”

McIlroy held a press conference at the Canadian Open, where he’s the defending champion from last year, and was asked predominantly about the merger. And the Northern Irishman admitted he wants to see those who defected to LIV Golf given some form of punishment by the PGA.