Greg Norman is still angry about the treatment of professional golfers who joined LIV Golf.
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We have no word yet on progress (or lack thereof) in negotiations between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia PIF, which sponsors LIV Golf. And while LIV CEO Greg Norman isn't looking forward to planning for the future, he still has one foot in the past, as he revealed in a new interview.
Sitting down with Bloomberg News, Norman talked extensively about LIV's current state and his vision for the coming years, but also focused on the controversial origins of the fledgling league, and the obstacles they've faced throughout golf. the world.
Here's why Greg Norman 'feels sorry' for LIV Golf critics
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“There were a lot of storms at the beginning because football managers really controlled the game around the world,” Norman told Bloomberg. “And we came up with a platform or a business model that could work together within the ecosystem.”
Despite the criticism he and his Tour faced in the media, Norman argued that he had not faced such opposition from LIV personally.
“Nowhere in all my journey in the last three years since I became CEO and commissioner [of LIV Golf] Someone has come to me and said, 'What you are doing is wrong.' And I think that is a strong enough proof that our product is our product and our product is accepted with open arms by many.”
But he also threw a thinly veiled shot at the PGA Tour, saying, “With the few who want to stop it for all the wrong reasons, they couldn't stop their place in the game of golf.” What we have done brilliantly is put more money into the game of golf. At the end of the day, golf is considered an important category.”
Norman reserved his strongest words for LIV Golf's early critics, particularly those who criticized the first wave of professionals who joined, calling the treatment of those players “disgusting.”
“And I admire the boys who entered, who are leading the way. They came up with a lot of storms,” said Norman. “The vitriol and the hatred was just disgusting, to be honest with you, when you look at what these guys have done to the game of golf and the way they run the game of golf and the institutions they've been behind, it's disgusting.”
As for the future, Norman sees LIV taking control of the golf game outside the US and pointed to LIV's list of properties as evidence of their success in that pursuit.
“We started a few years ago doing about nine to five [venues] – nine in the US and five international. And now that has been reversed. So the international situation, the global situation has opened its arms to us in a remarkable way. The USA is getting there, but the world has opened its arms.
“So ultimately, what we're going to end up doing is taking the game global.”
Despite Norman's confidence, the future of LIV Golf is very much up in the air. Until negotiations for a formal agreement between the PGA Tour and PIF are finalized, we won't know how LIV will fit into that picture.
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