Former PGA Tour star Pat Perez did not hold back in criticizing Tiger Woods following his move to LIV Golf, but two years on his time in the breakaway league could soon be up.
Perez opted to sign with the LIV setup following its burst onto the professional golf scene in 2022, penning a deal worth a reported $10 million with the Saudi-backed series. On the back of his move Perez - like many others - was criticised for teaming up with Greg Norman and co.
One of those critics was arguably golf's greatest ever player in Woods, who questioned the competitive nature and 'incentive' of the LIV setup in its early days amid its lack of cut and hefty payouts for players finishing towards the bottom of its leaderboard.
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In response, Perez was left unimpressed. "That’s the stupidest ---- I have ever heard of in my life. That’s one of the stupidest things I think he has said," he told the Son of a Butch podcast. "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.
"Now, next year you might; they finally got the perks. But last time I checked, he signed a $40 million deal right out of college and was flying on the Nike jet. 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.
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"He played Torrey. Never played Riv. But he’s worth every dime. In fact, like I said, he’s two billion short of where he should be, I think." During his time with the breakaway league, Perez has enjoyed some success, winning the very first LIV team championship in 2022 with the 4Aces.
A solid showing from the three-time PGA Tour winner followed a year later, however, his third campaign playing on the Saudi-backed circuit has been far from simple, both individually and with his 4Aces team. The once dominant 4Aces currently find themselves dwindling in ninth position in the season-long standings, and the picture is even bleaker when it comes to Perez playing alone.
After nine events played, Perez sits 47th in the table and in danger of falling into the league's drop zone with three tournaments to play. The 48-year-old did create some much-needed breathing space between him and the relegation spots, after a tied-14th finish at LIV Nashville last week - his best performance this campaign. He will no doubt need more of the same in Spain, the United Kingdom, and West Virginia if he is to secure his safety.
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