BERLIN – Golfing superstar Tiger Woods has again refused a
multi-million-dollar offer to appear at a controversial tournament in
Saudi Arabia in January 2020.
"I just don't want to go over there. It's a long way," he told
American broadcaster ESPN late Tuesday at the Hero World Challenge in
the Bahamian capital Nassau.
According to ESPN, Woods was offered 3 million dollars to play at the
Saudi International tournament.
The inaugural event in January 2019 was overshadowed by the killing
of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in
October 2018. The European Tour was criticized heavily for its
decision to carry on with the event. Woods had already declined his
invitation before Khashoggi's death.
"I understand the politics behind it," Woods said Tuesday of the
controversy, while defending the decision of fellow professionals,
such as Phil Mickelson and defending champion Dustin Johnson, to
play. "[T]he game of golf can help heal a lot of that, too."