One LIV Golf star, whose wife blasted Tiger Woods following his high-speed car crash in February, faces a major fight to avoid being relegated from the tour next year.
Pat Perez has endured a brutal year on the LIV Golf scene, with the Arizona-born star just avoiding relegation out of the league by the finest of margins.
Perez finished the 2024 LIV Golf season in 48th position – a marginal one place and 1.56 points above the automatic drop zone.
Had a clumsy Kalle Samooja not hit a final-round 71 in the last LIV Golf event of the year, things would’ve likely been much different for the American.
Instead, assuming a team picks him up during the free agency period, Perez still has his LIV Golf contract heading into 2025.
But, with his back already up against the wall, defending that could prove even more difficult next year, should Perez’s form continue to track in a similar trajectory.
Perez is no stranger to drama though, especially given he’s found himself locked in a war of words with none other than Woods in the past.
Woods, who was a fierce critic of the LIV Golf project when it spawned in 2021, has previously claimed those players that left the PGA Tour for the Saudi-backed riches are only in it for the money.
Perez hit back at the legendary golf ace, stating: “That’s the stupidest s*** I have ever heard of in my life,” on an episode of the Son of a Butch podcast.
He added: “Now, next year you might; they finally got the perks. But last time I checked, he signed a $40 million deal right out of college, was flying on the Nike jet. He found incentive. He could have shut it down right then.”
But Pat isn’t the only member of the Perez clan to have had a pop at Woods, with the LIV Golf star’s wife, Ashley, also having a go.
It came after Woods was involved in what many thought was a career-ending car crash in 2021, with Mrs Perez writing in an Instagram post: “Literally why driving under the influence is ILLEGAL. I don’t feel bad for him. Thank god he didn’t kill anyone. See ya.”
Woods wasn’t found to have been driving under the influence at the time, with the post quickly deleted by Mrs Perez.
