"They're not just throwing out money randomly" - Bubba Watson reveals LIV Golf has a 'formula' which decides the sign-on fees for each player
It may seem like LIV Golf is just throwing money at players to defect, but Bubba Watson says that's not the case. In fact, the RangeGoats GC captain says there's a tried and tested formula on how these numbers are formulated.
Watson said via Golf Monthly:
"When I went [to LIV], I've signed a lifetime deal with Ping, right? I have other sponsors - I have a watch sponsor, I have a clothing sponsor - so I had money. The money is null and void. They're not just throwing out money randomly. There is actually a formula of why so-and-so gets this."
He added that the LIV people are made up of smart businessmen and that the PIF has done well because of that:
"There is actually a formula... They own almost a piece of every company that's ever been built in the United States, right? They have a formula of how they invest their money. It's not just some made-up number, it's an actual real number for a reason."
Watson didn't reveal exactly how the value is calculated, but he did say that there's a lot of math going on. The math might be reserved for those setting the values and not the golfers themselves, but Watson knows a lot of thought goes into it:
"They might have added on 5%, they might have added on 2% - depending on who you are. They might have added 0.5% for me. There's a formula out there that we have behind the scenes, it's not like: 'here's a check.' It's a real number for a reason."
The value they deem to be appropriate for some golfers varies. From LIV's perspective, their formula believes the addition of Jon Rahm, for many reasons, is reportedly worth $566 million.
Similarly, the amount paid to Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka and others was set based on how valuable they were deemed to be.
Bubba Watson claims players defecting to LIV don't always get the money they want
In an effort to detail exactly how "not random" these metrics are, Bubba Watson went on to say that LIV doesn't acquiesce to a lot of people's requests. Some players are just not worth that in the tour's eyes.
Watson said:
"There are some guys on the [PGA] Tour that just came up with random numbers, and the League is just like, 'Who are you?' I would never call those people out, but there are some random numbers and you're just like, 'You haven't even made that much in your career!' Like, hold on a second, I know a sponsor isn't sponsoring you for that much."
While the money is usually more free flowing at LIV than on the PGA Tour, it's not an endless well that anyone can pull from. As Watson stated, it's calculated and specific, and not everyone is handed massive checks just to play the rebel tour.