Fred Couples Says Will Zalatoris Turned Down Massive LIV Golf Deal

Fred Couples had some choice words for Phil Mickelson and other members of LIV Golf recently, but in the midst of his criticism, the former Masters champion also revealed the staggering contract that Will Zalatoris was offered by the breakaway tour. 

Couples, who spoke at an engagement in Newport Beach, Calif., ahead of the PGA Tour Champions’s Hoag Classic, has the same agent as Zalatoris, who won his first PGA Tour event in August at the FedEx St. Jude Championship. 

According to the Orange County Register, Couples admitted that Zalatoris was initially offered $35 million to join the Saudi-backed golf league. He then disclosed that Zalatoris’s offer was bumped up to a whopping $130 million, but the young PGA Tour player still turned down the deal. 

“Money is zero object [for LIV Golf]. I give Will a lot of credit; he wants [to stay] with the PGA Tour,” Couples said at the event. 

Zalatoris has been vocal about his opposition to the new 54-hole league, and he’s been particularly transparent about his lack of interest in taking LIV’s money. In the fall, Zalatoris joined In Depth With Graham Bensinger and explained his standpoint. 

“I’ve never done this for money,” Zalatoris said. “If the U.S. Open had a $100,000 purse, I’d still show up to the U.S. Open … I’m in this to win a major. That’s my career goal.” 

Zalatoris has not accomplished that goal just yet, but he has come painfully close. At the 2021 Masters, Zalatoris finished runner up to Hideki Matsuyama. He then lost in a two-man playoff to Justin Thomas at the 2022 PGA Championship and nearly forced extra holes at the U.S. Open with eventual champion Matt Fitzpatrick.