Truth be told, I’m sure there are a lot of things Tiger and other stars don’t like to do, but they do them anyway because their larger professional interests demand it. Playing in Pro-Ams, for example. They all smile and suck it up. Very few people in any line of work have the luxury to be completely candid at all times.
As for the money, I personally don’t have any problem if a given tour allows appearance fees and the event sponsors decide to use them to put together a better field. And I certainly can’t see why, if an appearance fee is offered, a player should decline to accept it. Why should he?
It’s not like Tiger is bypassing the Masters in order to accept a $5 million fee to play in the Bolivian Open. He’s playing in all the majors, all the WGC events, the Ryder Cup, the President’s Cup, the Players Championship, all of the “significants”, and the FedEx Cup playoffs. On the weeks he’s not playing those events that the golf world cares about, what difference does it make if he flies his private jet to pick up a check from the European Tour? Who is he harming?
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