'The stupidest s*** I have ever heard' - Pat Perez hits out at Tiger Woods over LIV Golf criticism
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Published 13/11/2022 at 17:57 GMT
Tiger Woods is arguably the greatest to play the game, with 15 major titles to his name. Golf has made him extremely wealthy, and he took the decision to reject a mega offer from LIV Golf. Woods has been critical of LIV's format, saying there is little incentive to improve, and those comments have been criticised by LIV golfer Pat Perez who made the move earlier this year.
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Pat Perez has taken a swipe at Tiger Woods, labelling the 15-time major winner’s comments about LIV Golf “the stupidest s*** I have ever heard of in my life.”
Perez joined LIV Golf mid-way through the year and enjoyed huge success, winning the team competition and a string of events - albeit on the coat-tails of his 4 Aces captain Dustin Johnson.
At 46 years of age and with his last win on the PGA Tour coming in 2017, it is understandable why Perez elected to head to LIV with the vast riches on offer.
The winner of each LIV event secures a $4 million (c. £3.4m) prize, while the player who finishes last picks up $120,000 (c. £101,000), and Woods feels the guaranteed money and 54-hole, shotgun format does not provide any incentive to work hard.
“I don't understand it,” Woods said. “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.
“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.”
After Woods made his comments back in July, LIV lashed out at the 46-year-old - accusing him of being a mouthpiece for the PGA Tour.
And speaking on Claude Harmon’s Son of a Butch podcast, Perez took issue with Woods.
“That's the stupidest s*** I have ever heard of in my life,” Perez said. “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 $4 million. You cannot win $4 million on the PGA Tour.”
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Perez questioned Woods’ stance, given how much he earned away from the course.
“Last time I checked, he signed a $40 million (c. £34m) deal right out of college, was flying on the Nike jet,” Perez said. “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].
“But he's worth every dime. In fact, like I said, he's two billion [dollars] short of where he should be, I think.”
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