After weeks of speculation, Australian golf icon Greg Norman has confirmed he will take up a new role as chief executive officer of start-up company, LIV Golf Investments, in a move he says will trigger several momentous developments for professional golf worldwide.
Norman, 66, is stepping away from his roaring business empire, Greg Norman Company, to focus 100 percent of his time on the new venture. And his first order of business has already been signed and sealed – orchestrating a ground-breaking series of 10 new marquee events to be staged annually on the Asian Tour over the next 10 years. LIV Golf will commit a staggering $US200 million ($265m) to support playing opportunities and prize funds, immediately making it one of the single biggest investments in the history of professional golf.
The series will be added to the Asian Tour schedule from 2022 onwards, with new events across Asia, the Middle East and Europe. The former world No.1 says it has been designed to drive greater engagement amongst fans, attract new commercial interest and to help stabilise professional golf following a sustained period of worldwide disruption and uncertainty.
“This is just the beginning,” declares Norman, who will continue to design golf courses across the globe in between his new commitments. “LIV Golf Investments has secured a major capital commitment that will be used to create additive new opportunities across worldwide professional golf. We will be a cooperative and respectful supporter of the game at every level, and today’s announcement alongside the Asian Tour is the first example of that.”
Australian Golf Digest sources have also confirmed an announcement of a new golf league – separate to the 10 new Asian Tour events – is imminent, and that Norman will be confirmed as its inaugural commissioner. It follows intense speculation that the partnership between the Asian Tour and LIV Golf Investments may be connected to proposed big-money events on offer to the world’s best players.
“I have been a staunch supporter and believer in playing and developing golf in Asia for more than four decades,” added Norman. “The Asian Tour is a sleeping giant and we share ambition to grow the series and unlock what we believe is significant untapped potential. We see our promotion of these new events as a vital first step in supporting emerging markets, creating a new platform, rich with playing opportunities that create valuable player pathways.”
LIV Golf Investments has been established with group companies in the USA and UK, with Asian offices to follow. Several high-profile C-Suite executives have already been appointed, with further announcements to follow in due course, according to Norman.
Public Investment Fund (PIF), the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia that made headlines recently with its $409 million takeover of English Premier League football club Newcastle United, is the majority shareholder in the new company.
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“I am pleased that the investor base is 100 percent commercially driven by the opportunity to improve golf for all involved. I am happy to partner with this group of investors to bring the significant resources to bear that are necessary for the fundamental changes required for the greater good of the sport,” Norman said of PIF’s support. The hall-of-famer revealed plans are in place to introduce further investment partners, who share the passion and belief in how new opportunities in professional golf can create widespread benefit for fans and players.
“This is the single biggest development in the history of the Asian Tour and a major milestone for professional golf,” says Cho Minn Thant, the Asian Tour’s commissioner and chief executive officer. “The opportunity will secure unprecedented new playing opportunities, establish new player pathways, allow us to compete commercially with other sports, and enhance our social agenda.
“We are particularly excited at the prospect today’s landmark announcement brings to the amateur game, providing new inspiration to aspiring players through a new level of top-flight professional competition in the region.”
The series will add to the Asian Tour’s backbone of established events to comprise a 25-event season, tipped to smash combined prizemoney records in 2022. Each of the 10 new events will be broadcast live across the globe, with plans to attract an international field of headline talent through an open eligibility category regardless of Tour affiliation so opportunities are available to the broadest cross section of players.
Friday’s announcement follows recent headlines of a new 10-year partnership between the Asian Tour and Golf Saudi, organisers of the Saudi International, all but ensuring the event will become the flagship tournament on the Asian Tour with its $US5m prize purse.
Australian Golf Digest understands the Saudi International will not be one of the 10 new events to feature as part of the new series but will itself provide enhanced exemption requirements.
Meanwhile, further signals of increased prosperity for the Asian Tour also came recently with the announcement that competitive play will soon recommence following a postponement due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Its suspended 2020-2021 season will draw to a close with the staging of two new tournaments in Thailand in November and December 2021, and two further tournaments planned for Singapore in January 2022.
The new series of 10 events will take place throughout 2022, with all full-field events contributing towards the Order of Merit ranking.
