Jack Nicklaus Reveals He Turned Down $100m+ Saudi Offer

Jack Nicklaus was offered "in excess of $100m by the Saudis" according to an interview with the Fire Pit Collective's Michael Bamberger.

An article titled 'Trumped' on the change of 2022 PGA Championship venue from Trump Bedminster to Southern Hills Country Club features quotes from Jack Nicklaus who discussed the move and revealed why he turned down over $100m to head up LIV Golf - the organisation behind the new eight-event Invitational Series - we assume.

“I was offered something in excess of $100m by the Saudis, to do the job probably similar to the one that Greg [Norman] is doing,” Nicklaus said. “I turned it down. Once verbally, once in writing. I said, ‘Guys, I have to stay with the PGA Tour. I helped start the PGA Tour.’”

The Saudi-backed LIV Golf Invitational Series, headed up by Greg Norman, begins in England next month, with eight tournaments taking place in 2022 across England, USA, Thailand and Saudi Arabia. The first seven events carry $25m purses before the $50m Team Championship at Trump National Doral.

Nicklaus also described stripping Trump Bedminster of the 2022 PGA Championship as "cancel culture" and called Donald Trump a "formidable figure in the game."

The tournament was moved from Bedminster to Southern Hills following the US Capitol Hill riots on 6th January 2021.

“I like Seth Waugh,” Nicklaus said on the PGA of America's decision to strip Bedminster of its first ever men's Major championship. “Seth didn’t need this job. He took the job because he thought he could give the PGA of America some good guidance. And I think he’s doing that.

"But this move is cancel culture. Donald Trump may be a lot of things, but he loves golf and he loves this country. He’s a student of the game and a formidable figure in the game. What he does in the future in golf will depend on what the cancel culture will allow him to do.”