Tiger Woods turned down a $3.25 million offer to play in the Saudi Intertnational, a new European Tour event sponsored by the Saudi government, according to a report from The Telegraph.
The 14-time major-winner has previously been willing to traverse the globe to compete, if the appearance fee has been right.
In the past, Woods has traveled to such countries as China and the United Arab Emirates. Yet it is understood he deemed Saudi Arabia to be an excursion too far, even for at least that amount that apparently dwarfs anything he has received before for an official overseas tournament.
Sources say he was first approached in the summer, after his dramatic competitive resurrection at the Open, where he led going into the last nine before finishing sixth, and then at the USPGA Championship, where he finished second.
Good to see Tiger playing for the right team. Another legend also turned down the chance to play there. Tennis legend Roger Federer said he was offered a chance to play in an exhibition match in Jeddah, but declined
“I’ll be very, very clear,” Pelley said. “Saudi International is on our schedule and we’ll continue to monitor just like we would do with every other country We have heard some of the criticism of the region. Obviously freedom of speech is far more available now based on social media. We’ve listened and we will continue to monitor the situation.”
Woods usually stays away from politics, and this is a real hot button topic at the moment. Not worth it for Tiger to get involved in any sort of negative press.
