(Reuters) – Golfing great Jack Nicklaus said on Tuesday he only met with the Saudi Arabian organisers of the LIV Golf Invitational Series as a courtesy given he is building a course near the nation’s capital and never had any intention of joining them.
Nicklaus was reportedly offered more than $100 million to be a face of the Saudi-funded breakaway series but the holder of a record 18 major titles on the PGA Tour could not be swayed.
“I’ve got zero interest in wanting to do something like that. I don’t care what kind of money they would have thrown at me,” Nicklaus, 82, told reporters ahead of this week’s Memorial Tournament which he hosts in Dublin, Ohio.
“My allegiance has been to the PGA Tour. I grew up on the PGA Tour. I helped found the PGA Tour as it is today. My allegiance is there and it’s going to stay there.”
Last year it was announced that Nicklaus signed on to build his first ever course in Saudi Arabia, located about 40 minutes from the capital of Riyadh.
Nicklaus said the LIV Golf organisers reached out to his son Jackie and that the meeting was held in Jupiter, Florida, at The Bear’s Club — the private golf club and residential community which he founded in 1999.
Despite turning down the offer, Nicklaus said he has no issues with the LIV Golf series if it ultimately helps to grow the game of golf.
“If this helps grow the game of golf, you know, I don’t have any — what difference does it make to me where our players are coming from? They’re coming from all over the world,” said Nicklaus.
“If it grows the game and benefits some people and spreads the game, fine. But I think we’ve had enough of that. Let’s talk about the Memorial Tournament.”
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by Toby Davis)
