‘I Grew Up in the Tiger-Phil Era’: Pat Perez Strongly Responds to Being Publicly Targeted for Joining LIV

The golf world has been nothing but critical of the new LIV Golf Invitational Series when it began. If anyone received more hate and mockery online than the Saudi-backed league, that would be 4 Aces‘ own, Pat Perez. Although many started to show interest in the league as time progressed, they remained critical of Perez for joining LIV. 

“I grew up in the Tiger-Phil era,” Perez said in the ‘Son of a Butch’ podcast, hosted by Claude Harmon III. The 46-year-old revealed that it was hard for him to win at least one championship when the “dominant players” were always part of the field. 

Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson overshadowed other golfers’ careers in their prime era

Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods, and Perez debuted as professional golfers in the 90s. As the best golfers of all time, the former two have always dominated in the 90s and 2000s. 

Woods has won 82 championship titles on the PGA Tour since his debut in 1996. This includes important events, including the major tournaments and the World Golf Championships. Meanwhile, Mickelson was on the title hunt too. He had won 45 Tour events, including majors and WGCs, since his debut in 1992. 

Therefore, not only Perez, it was hard for everyone else in the professional golf world to win over Woods and Mickelson. Yet, Perez still managed to win three on his own throughout his Tour career. However, the 46-year-old revealed that people look down on his three wins. 

Read more: Phil Mickelson Once Confessed About the PGA Tour’s Bias Towards His Arch Rival Tiger Woods

“Go win once… Get through Q School and keep your card.” Perez confidently said to his haters through the Son of a Butch podcast. “I’ve played in every single tournament that’s available in the game. Then only win three times in (21) years and tell me how easy it is,” he added. “I’m so tired of hearing that s**t.” 

Even after joining LIV, the criticizers didn’t leave Perez alone. Despite not winning an event in the Series, he managed to earn a lot more than one-time champions of the event, thanks to his team, 4 Aces. This led people to criticize him.

Pat Perez finally won against the dominant players of his era in terms of the season earnings

Woods couldn’t attend many events in the 2021-2022 PGA Tour season due to his injuries from a car crash. The only official event he finished playing all rounds was the Masters, where he earned $43,500 after finishing 47th. 

On the other hand, Mickelson earned $140,608 from his Tour events this season. Although he reportedly received $200 million from LIV Golf as guaranteed money, the 52-year-old couldn’t earn well as neither he nor his team won any event on the Invitational Series. 

However, such was not the case with Perez. While he could earn only $1,071,981 from attending 19 events on the Tour this season, he made a massive $8,023,500 from eight events on LIV Series. 

Although money is not a parameter to calculate one’s career success, Perez did win over Woods and Mickelson in terms of it. And he earned it while enduring critical comments from the golf community. 

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