It remains unclear what role Greg Norman will play in the new merge. Photo: Getty Images/Rob Carr
Fighting to the end, Greg Norman fights. The chief executive of LIV Golf said the breakaway league was «not going anywhere» and would instead thrive thanks to the merger of Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund with the PGA Tour and DP World Tour.
Norman was not involved in the peace talks between Yasser Al Rumayan, Governor of the Public Investment Fund and Chairman of the LIV, and three PGA Tour board members, including Commissioner Jay Monahan.
< p>Indeed, it is believed that the Australian was not involved in the negotiations at all and only learned of the sensational news minutes before the announcement was made. And after both Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods have said a settlement can only be reached if Norman is left out of the picture, it's hard to imagine the two-time big winner will play any dominant role in the new structure.
However, while the relevant parties are debating the details, Norman is still ostensibly in the LIV hot seat, and he seems determined to present a positive front.
«The faucet is now wide open to commercial sponsorship, big companies, TV networks,» Norman told LIV staff in a conference call Wednesday ahead of McIlroy's scheduled press conference ahead of the RBC Canadian Open, SI reported. “LIV is and will remain an independent enterprise. Our business model will not change. We have changed history and we are not going anywhere.”
With more than 100 employees at its headquarters in Florida and London, Norman was probably just boosting morale, not least his own. It is understood that the English agency Performance 45 will remain involved after mainly running LIV, as former COO Atul Khosla left under mysterious circumstances at the end of 2022. In January, Telegraph Sport reported that Norman had been moved up and has mostly played a front role since then.
It will be interesting to see if the 68-year-old Norman retains that position in the second half of the second season of LIV, which will host seven more tournaments with a prize fund of 25 million dollars, which will end in Jeddah in November. By then, the league will know if it has a place in the new world order, although Monahan's statements in the media do not bode well for the circuit.
When Monahan was asked if he saw the situation in which the LIV would exist in 2024 along with the PGA Tour in its current form, he wasn't sure.
«I don't see that scenario, but I didn't get a full score , a full empirical evaluation of LIV, which I am going to do in order to be able to comment on this,” he said. “But I don’t see such a scenario, no. In my opinion, whatever scenarios you think of as a bridge between the PGA Tour and the LIV will be more long-term.”
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McIlroy wants LIV to disappear — branding, format, everything. “I would say that the element of team golf can still be there,” McIlroy said. “I hope that it will not be under the auspices of the LIV. I hope it will be very different from what LIV was.»
McIlroy was briefed by fellow Jimmy Dunn, a close friend who was central to bringing Monahan to the table, after the PGA Tour's top spokesman for so long refused to even support the idea. Dunn told McIlroy, «Rory, sometimes you have 280 [yards] above the water, you just have to do it.» McIlroy is adamant that with a majority vote on the new board, Sawgrass headquarters is in charge.
«The PIF was going to keep spending money on golf, but at least the PGA TOUR is now in control of how that money is spent,» he said, before emphasizing his disdain for the 54-hole league. “I still hate LIV. I hope it passes. And I fully expect it to happen. There might be a command element, but I don't think it would look like LIV did. And I think that's a good thing.»
However, Al Rumayan is the chairman of the board and as PIF prepares to invest billions in a new company, he will clearly make a huge contribution and, in addition to finance, pride will be a factor in the fight for power.
Al Rummayan, who is also chairman of Newcastle United, insists the LIV will have its own seat, either with or without controversial branding. “There is no question that the LIV has had a positive impact on golf,” he said. “We believe there is room for the game to evolve while maintaining its legendary history and tradition.”
Announced live on US TV by Yasser Al-Rumayyan (left) and Jay Monahan
Where this leaves poor LIV employees — and there are many good people and great professionals in the group who, despite outrageous funding, still managed to pull off a near-miracle by making the unlikely operation out of the group as a going concern — is anyone's guess. , although since this is essentially a commercial collaboration, there will be roles for at least some.
The most famous names on the LIV lists have contracts and will obviously be part of everything that emerges from an exhaustive analysis of collective assets . , horse trading and scheduling, which will be typical for the next few months. There's also the small matter of signing an American television deal with The CW and at least one commercial partnership.
As it all unravels and then reforms, this will indeed be business as usual for the LIV circus. . It will then land in Valderrama on the Costa del Sol in three weeks, and in St Albans next week. Norman may very well be at the helm of this trip across Europe back and forth — still clinging to his delusions or not.
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