Greg Norman says he met with Justin Thomas about LIV Golf, and that the door remains open “for everybody”, including his top critics like Rory McIlroy, to join the new league.
The LIV chief executive and commissioner made the comments in an interview with Bunkered magazine.
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“Our door is open for everybody,” Norman said. “We’re not the PGA Tour. We’re not like that. We exist for the players, so we will always have an open door, whether that’s for Rory or Jordan Spieth or Justin Thomas or whoever.”
“I mean, we talked to JT,” Norman added. “Me and another member of my team, we sat down with him and gave him the full presentation and, if you notice, he’s not said much negative about what we’re doing, presumably because he knows it and understands it.”
Norman doesn’t specify when the meeting took place. He’s also a bit misleading in terms of Thomas’ attitude towards LIV, at least, publicly. Ahead of the RBC Canadian Open in June he said this:
“I’ve thought a lot about it… People are entitled to choose as they wish. I don’t dislike (Dustin Johnson) now, I don’t think he’s a bad dude – I’m not going to treat him any differently,” Thomas said. “I’m disappointed, and I wish that he and others wouldn’t have done it… I know the PGA Tour is the best place to play in the world. I wish that it wouldn’t be taking away from the great storylines and things that are going on on a tour that’s been around for a very long time and is in one of the best places it’s ever been. It’s just a bummer that those guys won’t be a part of it.”
And after that tournament, in which he finished third behind Rory McIlroy and Tony Finau, he added this tweet:
https://twitter.com/JustinThomas34/status/1536128145874485248
Ahead of the Presidents Cup, which didn’t include LIV golfers, Thomas also said he had no interest in a team match pitting PGA Tour and LIV players.
“They’re more than happy doing what we’re doing, and we’re doing great what we’re doing,” Thomas said at the time. “So just don’t see the need for it.”
Like Thomas, McIlroy has been very vocal about his support of the PGA Tour and his criticism of LIV, specifically Norman. The four-time Major champion took a swipe at the Shark after passing his PGA Tour career win total, and more recently, he and Tiger Woods called for the Queenslander to be relieved of his LIV duties for the good of professional golf. Norman reiterated that is not happening.
“Rory and Tiger have no idea what they’re talking about,” Norman told Bunkered. “None whatsoever. I have got the full support from my chairman. One hundred percent. One thousand percent. There has never been one thing to suggest otherwise. But I know what they’re trying to do. They’re trying to bait me to draw me into a public back and forth with them and I’m not going to go down that childish path.”
