Australian golf legend Greg Norman has finally lifted the lid on his high-profile exit as LIV Golf chief executive officer and commissioner in an exclusive tell-all interview with Australian Golf Digest for its November 2025 issue.
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Speaking with the publication’s editor-in-chief, Brad Clifton, 70-year-old Norman revealed the true toll the role took on him, the players that reached out upon news of his departure, and – incredibly – why he’d do it all again “in a heartbeat”.
From the confines of his brand-new office in Florida, where he’s re-immersing himself in his business empire – The Greg Norman Company – a resolute Norman described his tenure at the Saudi-backed league as “mission accomplished”.
“It was just one of those things where you had to stay focused on what purpose you were going after and execute on that purpose,” says Norman. “I think, from my perspective, I did that. I knew there were going to be a lot of headwinds. I didn’t anticipate the magnitude of those headwinds because… as time went by, those headwinds were created by misperceptions. (But) once the Strategic Sports Group (SSG) came in and once the other private equity money started rolling in, that was the catalyst for everybody to calm down a little bit, in my opinion. They started to see that what LIV did – bring private equity into the game of golf for the first time in 53 years – was a positive.”
Norman says even the PGA Tour, which spent years in open warfare with LIV, benefitted from the disruption engineered by golf’s ‘Great White Shark’.
“When you look back on the past 12 months, there’s been a realisation that all those investment dollars have done great things for the institutions as well as the players, in all parts of the world,” he said. “Even with the PGA Tour [boosting its prizemoney with elevated events], I was quietly happy when I saw that, because the players benefited from it.
“Are they going to recognise LIV for doing that? No, but I do know that was a significant uptick for them. For them to be able to play for more money, even play in less competitive fields – they reduced the size of the fields – I just said, ‘Well, there you go.’ The adoption, to some degree, of what we implemented has been accepted.”
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Norman also shed light on just how gruelling his LIV gig was – and the personal toll it took.
“I enjoyed my time at LIV. But I’ll be honest with you, it was hard,” admits Norman. “It was very draining on me. I was working 100-hour weeks. I’m not going to say all the abuse was anything [of consequence], but what hurt me the most was the lack of understanding of why people would judge me and give the abuse they did. That was the thing that bothered me the most, because I’m the type of guy who will happily sit down and talk about things. And if I’m wrong, I’ll admit I’m wrong. But don’t judge me. Don’t judge what LIV was truly all about.”
The World Golf Hall of Famer revealed it was Phil Mickelson who led the player thanks when news broke of his departure.
“There were certain players that really came up to me and there were a few others that came up to me and just thanked me for what I did for them, for being the tip of the spear, for taking it all on,” says Norman. “Phil [Mickelson] took [plenty of heat] too, but I took it on behalf of all the guys, so that to me was part of the job – I had to do it, right? And if you’re going to make meaningful change, running through a brick wall without getting bloody, that’s not going to happen. So, the guys did reach out to me – not all of them, no – but probably Phil was the one who really was very open about it and appreciative of what I did do. ‘Poults’ (Ian Poulter) was the same, along with ‘Westy’ (Lee Westwood).”
When asked if he would put himself through it all over again, Norman didn’t hesitate. “Oh, in a heartbeat, but I’d do it a little differently. But, yes, I’d do it again in a heartbeat. Like anything, you look back at losing a golf tournament and ask yourself, Why did you lose that golf tournament? Did I hit a bad 5-iron? Or did I not concentrate? So, you sit back and you analyse it, and of course you would do that. And, like any CEO, you have to learn by your successes just as much as by your failures. So, yes, absolutely I’d do it again.”
Norman’s LIV reign was marked by numerous setbacks, from LIV Golf being denied Official World Golf Ranking points and major exemptions, to Norman even being snubbed by the R&A when it chose to not invite the two-time Champion Golfer of the Year to its 150th Open celebrations at St Andrews in 2022. Now that he has no further ties to the league, does he hope that door is open for reconciliation?
“Well, time will tell, right?” he says. “Martin Slumbers is not there anymore. As a matter of fact, I had a really great meeting with Martin at the last Open Championship I was at. He sat down with me and he talked to me about what happened. It was his final year in the job and he was really good and open about things. Again, it tells you how there was – I don’t want to make assumptions here – but how there was this kind of united approach about how to attack LIV because they didn’t know what LIV was in the beginning and they thought it was an attack on their establishments. That’s my read on things.”
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Looking ahead, Norman says he is fully focussed on a seven-year plan that will prioritise his golf course design business and culminate with the Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games, where he’s playing a hands-on role as part of the Games’ organising committee.
“The Olympics [board role] has been the big surprise packet for me,” says Norman. “I didn’t realise just how much I was going to enjoy it when I took it on, to be honest with you, but I’m really into it.
“Once I get to that point and Brisbane has lit the cauldron, I can sit back and go, OK, now might be the first time in my life I can (finally) think about slowing down.”
• Don’t miss the full, unfiltered interview in the November 2025 issue of Australian Golf Digest. Ensure you receive your copy here: https://subscribe.australiangolfdigest.com.au
