Bubba Watson Says Criticism of LIV's Guaranteed Contracts 'Makes Me Laugh'

The players who jumped from the PGA Tour to join the LIV Golf Series have been heavily criticized for accepting big-money deals because of the upstart tour's ties to the Saudi Arabian government.

However, veteran golfer Bubba Watson finds such criticism laughable because he said he's also received guaranteed appearance money during his time on the PGA Tour, which is against the rules.

"It makes me laugh because on the PGA Tour, I got paid behind closed doors to show up at tournaments, many tournaments," Watson told ESPN's Mark Schlabach. "And if Bubba Watson's not the best, that means the best were getting paid better than me and more than me. And so it's guaranteed money. I miss the cut, I still make money. I make the cut, I make extra money."

The PGA Tour provided a statement to Schlabach on Wednesday addressing Watson's insinuation and said it "prohibits the payment of appearance money to players as an inducement to play in a particular tournament."

The statement continued: "We are aware that certain tournament sponsors may contract with a player to perform a sponsor-related activity during tournament week for which they receive nominal compensation. This is permissible under our guidelines."

A two-time Masters champion and 12-time winner on the PGA Tour, Watson is one of many high-profile players to have accepted guaranteed, multiyear contracts from LIV Golf. Schlabach noted that six-time major champion Phil Mickelson reportedly signed a $200 million deal while former world No. 1 golfer Dustin Johnson reportedly received over $125 million to jump from the PGA Tour.

Several veteran golfers, including Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, have criticized the players who joined LIV, which is funded by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund. Saudi Arabia has a well-documented history of human rights violations and many have accused the nation of using LIV and other sports investments—including purchasing Newcastle United and hosting WWE and Formula 1 events—to engage in sportswashing.

"What these players are doing for guaranteed money, what is the incentive to practice?" Woods said at the 150th Open at St. Andrews in July. "What is the incentive to go out there and earn it in the dirt? You're just getting paid a lot of money upfront and playing a few events and playing 54 holes."

While Watson didn't specify how much under-the-table money he received during his time on the PGA Tour, he stood by his claim.

"I'd laugh at [criticism] because we all had some guaranteed money to show up at places," Watson said. "Win, lose, quit, whatever it is, you still got the money. We've all been doing that. We've all been playing for guaranteed money. The critics, it just makes me laugh because that's what we're doing. We don't want to talk about it on tour, but we are getting it."