Agents dish on how LIV Golf money is handled and detail golf’s current ‘gold rush’

NORTH PLAINS, Ore. — Charl Schwartzel made more money in three days than any of his years on the PGA Tour after he won the inaugural LIV Golf Invitational Series event near London earlier this month.

The South African is one of few players to admit the “whole thing” about the upstart circuit led by Greg Norman and backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is the money.

“You can’t lie that it’s not about the money,” Schwartzel said earlier this week. “There’s a lot of money out there and it’s more than any guy has ever played for.”

The player reps agree. In a Golf Digest story, Alan Shipnuck of the Fire Pit Collective spoke with four different agents who represent LIV golfers, with each speaking anonymously “to facilitate candor.” They’re referenced as Agents A, B, C and D.

“What you have to understand about professional golfers is that they are all whores,” said Agent A. “That is the starting point.”

The multi-million dollar deals players have reportedly signed — $200 million for Phil Mickelson, $150 for Dustin Johnson, $100 million for Bryson DeChambeau — have been a hot topic of discussion for weeks, but Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee stirred the money pot when he sent a since-deleted Tweet that claimed prize money is applied to a player’s signing bonus.

Jane MacNeille, LIV Golf’s VP of Communications, ended a Tuesday pre-event press conference to address the confusion, stating “The prize purses are in addition to (player contracts). There is no draw at LIV Golf on any finances.”

“Chamblee was banging that drum the other day,” quipped Pat Perez.

Agent B hedged the nine-figure reports, asking the question: Who benefits from those numbers?

“LIV, obviously, because they’re trying to generate buzz and recruit more players,” he explained. “But it also benefits the agents who are trying to sign new players or nudge other clients to make the jump.”

A whopping $255 million is up for grabs in the eight-event 2022 series. The seven regular-season events boast $25 million purses, with $4 million going to the individual winner and $3 million going to the winning team. The total purse for the team championship rises to $50 million, with the winning squad taking home a cool $16 million. The player crowned the champion of the regular season will earn $18 million, with $8 million going to second and $4 million to third.

Last place this week at Pumpkin Ridge will earn $120,000.

“The prize fund is the prize fund,” said Perez, who earlier this week said he has no issues with Saudi Arabia funding the series despite its human rights record. “Whatever you win you get to keep. That’s why guys are taking this seriously.”

“Mine is in,” Perez later said of his upfront money. “I got it all. It’s (expletive) incredible.”

Agent C claims the contracts worth more money for the big-name players are paid out with yearly installments across the length of the deal. Also inside the contracts? Clawback provisions in case of injury, and a “morals clause” which deals with on-course and off-course incidents such as cheating or legal issues that would allow LIV to cancel a contract and take back upfront money.

A veteran caddie said one of the biggest backstories to LIV Golf is the agents looking for a big payday. From Shipnuck’s reporting:

Though it is subject to negotiation, the standard arrangement in professional golf is that players keep all of the money they win on the course but agents take 20 percent of appearance fees and endorsement deals. LIV’s upfront money is treated like the latter, and as a result, the player representatives are getting a fat cut. (Because there is no cut in the events and players are guaranteed a check, some agencies are taking a commission on the first $120,000 of a player’s winnings, treating it as a de facto appearance fee.)

The story also quoted Agent D saying he’s heard grumbling from players on how much they should pay their team of caddies, physios and agents, “but there has been so much talk about quote unquote player greed that I think they are sensitive to not squeezing anyone right now. I do expect that at the end of this season some percentages will get adjusted.”