The organisers of the UAE’s two European Tour events are no longer willing to pay big fees in order to secure Tiger Woods’ participation at next year’s tournaments, according to a report in UK media.
The Telegraph reports that people behind the Abu Dhabi Championship, which opens the European Tour in January, and the Dubai Desert Classic, will not pay the estimated $2m-$3m appearance fee next year to Woods for the first time in ten years.
According the report, the organisers are unwilling to pay large chunks of their budget to just one player, particularly as the 14-time Major winner’s popularity has waned.
“There are other players of big interest now, not least Rory McIlroy,” a Tour insider told The Telegraph. “In these market conditions, at those prices, Woods does not represent the value he once did. In fairness, he has been there a lot and the novelty has worn off.”
He finished tied 41st in Dubai this year and missed the cut in Abu Dhabi in 2013.
Woods’ value has not diminished elsewhere, however, as the Telegraph reports that he was due to receive $4m for playing in the America’s Golf Cup in Buenos Aires this month, and a further $4m for playing in two one-day corporate events in China. However, recent injuries have curtailed his golf and will instead rest up before playing in his own event in Florida in December.
Last year, Qatar scrapped plans to bring the former world number one golfer to the Gulf state after it deemed his US$3m appearance fee too expensive. “Tiger Woods demands $3m just for an appearance, if he were to compete in the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters – which is not worth paying for a tournament of $2.5m prize money,” Hassan Al Nuaimi, president of the Qatar Golf Association, said at a press conference, Doha News reported in January 2013.
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