Tiger Woods to receive $100M loyalty reward from PGA Tour: report

Tiger Woods is set to receive $100 million from PGA Tour Enterprises for his loyalty, according to the Telegraph. This was made known in a statement by PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan.

It follows the PGA Tour announcement of a $1.5 billion investment from Strategic Sports Group (SSG), which was launched to allow almost 200 PGA Tour members to become “equity holders” in PGA Tour Enterprises. Strategic Sports Group helped create PGA Tour Enterprises, which is a new nonprofit organization to which they contributed $3 billion. Woods and other PGA Tour players became equity holders in PGA Tour Enterprises earlier this year.

“It was incredibly important for us to create opportunities for the players of today and in the future to be more invested in their organization, both financially and strategically,” Woods and fellow board members Patrick Cantlay, Peter Malnati, Adam Scott, Webb Simpson, and Jordan Spieth shared in a joint statement at the time.

“This not only further strengthens the Tour from a business perspective, but it also encourages the players to be fully invested in continuing to deliver–and further enhance–the best in golf to our fans.”

The equity that will be given to Woods and other players will be based on how well a person has done in their job, how many times they have played and helped others in the future, and whether they are a PGA Tour member. Moreover, the Telegraph said that the golfers will get half their expected money back after four years. After that, the rest will be invested over another four years.

Woods is one of the richest Black athletes and among the few to achieve career earnings of over a billion dollars. He has earned $2.1 billion in career earnings as well as also benefiting from a longtime Nike partnership. 

Woods saw his career take a hit following a publicized divorce due to infidelity, losing multiple endorsement deals as a result, having a few run-ins with the law, and enduring a string of injuries.

Woods, has, however, managed to put his past behind him and proved his doubters wrong. Described as one of the greatest comebacks in sporting history, he won his fifth Masters title at the Augusta National recently, making it his first major victory in 11 years.

He recently ended his more than two-decade partnership with Nike. The legend first went into partnership with Nike in 1996 and renewed it repeatedly in one of the most lucrative endorsement deals in sports history, according to CBS News. The platform also reported that his last deal was a 10-year pact in 2013 worth a reported $200 million. 

“Over 27 years ago, I was fortunate to start a partnership with one of the most iconic brands in the world. The days have since been filled with so many amazing moments and memories, if I started naming them, I could go on forever,” the 15-times major champion said.

In response, Nike showed a picture of Woods flashing his trademark fist pump and final-round red top, with the caption: “It was a hell of a round, Tiger.”