The LIV proposal included a multi-million dollar signing bonus in exchange for a two-year commitment, Coody said. Also included, Coody said, were all travel expenses to tournaments this year and next, plus guaranteed prize money regardless of where he finished in any event.
Coody said he was given 12 days to decide on the offer.
Norman also requested Coody’s cell-phone number so he could pitch Coody personally.
“I shut that down in a hurry,” said Kyle, who also played golf for the University of Texas before testing his game in the pro ranks.
Kyle being Parker and Pierceson’s dad. And a smart man.
Backed by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, LIV Golf players defecting should know that upon giving up their cell phone number there is always the distinct possibility that the Kingdom is watching them.
As documented in multiple stories, Saudi Arabia is a user of the Pegasus software developed by Israeli firm NSO Group. And may continue to be despite a cancelled contract, as Ronen Bergman and Mark Mazzetti reported last year.
After the murder of Mr. Khashoggi in 2018, one of the firms, NSO Group, canceled its contracts with Saudi Arabia amid accusations that its hacking tools were being misused to abet heinous crimes.
But the Israeli government encouraged NSO and two other companies to continue working with Saudi Arabia, and issued a new license for a fourth to do similar work, overriding any concerns about human rights abuses, according to one senior Israeli official and three people affiliated with the companies.
Since then, Saudi Arabia has continued to use the spyware to monitor dissidents and political opponents.