Greg Norman has weighed in on LIV Golf’s extraordinary downfall, insisting he “never wanted to destroy the PGA Tour” and revealing that his biggest regret was making the breakaway league too focused on the United States.
Speaking to Flushing It Golf’s Tom Hobbs, Norman offered his most revealing assessment yet of the LIV experiment he helped launch, just days after the Saudi-backed league filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
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And while Norman accepts that LIV could have taken a very different path, there is little contrition from the man who was its chief executive officer and commissioner from its inception.
“I respect everybody’s opinion, but never judge something on one sided info,” he told Hobbs. “I learned that early in my life. They prejudged us and that was very unfair. I’ve always supported US golf and the PGA Tour has always been a priority. Australia was my number 1, but the US was number 2.
“There was zero circumstances I had any intention or thought to take down and destroy the PGA Tour. It would be counter-intuitive. There was no chance in hell it could happen. I just wanted to grow the game of golf for fans. No body understands or sees what I do behind the scenes all around the world for golf. I’m very proud of what I stood for and I’ve never waned.”
Norman does, however, concede that LIV’s original strategy was wrong.
“It was too US-centric from the start. I thought, let’s own global golf and let the PGA Tour have the US. They’re a big fish in a small pond, we can be a bigger fish in a bigger pond. Ultimately, I wanted 10 non-US events and 4 in the US.”
It is one of the more intriguing admissions from Norman, who believes LIV could have worked alongside the PGA Tour rather than becoming its existential threat.
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“It could have been a simple relationship with the PGA Tour. We had everything, it was a plug and play. We could have gone to the our weakest events and brought in the best players in partnership with local communities. It would have made a significant impact on the local economy and added value to the PGA Tour. It would have benefitted all round.”
Instead, the relationship between the two organisations became one of the ugliest power struggles professional golf has seen. Norman believes former PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan missed an opportunity to find common ground with him and Saudi PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan.
“Yes. Unfortunately, Monahan was too dug in and was given bad advice,” added Norman. “He should have spoken to Yasir and myself. I’m an honorary member of the PGA Tour and just wanted to see the game of golf grow. Yasir always wanted to work with them and we never wanted to destroy the PGA Tour or the DP World Tour. It was a tremendous opportunity but Monahan was too dug in.”
There is, however, one area in which Norman believes LIV unquestionably succeeded: forcing the PGA Tour to change.
“The PGA Tour, fans, players and benefactors had two entities to follow. Brian Rolapp even admitted it that they’d made positive adjustments because of LIV. Those guys are playing for more money than ever.”
He is even more emphatic when assessing his own legacy: “I would love a PGA Tour player to admit they’ve made more money, and that the production is now better. We created that. We forced the change.”
It is a provocative claim, particularly given where LIV now finds itself. Less than a year after Norman left his position, LIV has entered Chapter 11 with liabilities estimated between $500 million and $1 billion. The league says the bankruptcy process is designed to restructure the business rather than shut it down, with a new ownership and financing structure being pursued for 2027.
Norman says he could see the financial trouble coming. “I think everyone could see it coming. Chapter 11 gives them some flexibility and it’s logical after the financing from PIF stopped. They say they want a sustainable business model, but what does that mean? I’m sure Scott has it in hand.”
The former commissioner also revealed that he has had “little communication” with current LIV boss Scott O’Neil since leaving the organisation, despite believing the business was “tracking extremely well” when he departed.
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He says there were major opportunities on the table that were ultimately not pursued, particularly around LIV’s team franchise model. One idea was to hand control of individual teams to national golf organisations. Norman cited a potential Japanese team being run by the Japan Golf Tour, giving the governing body responsibility for selecting players while allowing the value created by the team to flow back into the country’s golf ecosystem.
It is a model Norman remains “really bullish” about. As for the people he left behind, Norman appears considerably more sentimental.
“There’s a difference between a leader and a boss. I installed vision and belief and hired really impressive people, from just me to hundreds of staff who all believed in the vision. We faced tremendous headwinds, but we advanced because the vision was embedded in the staff.
“I wore three different hats at LIV. I was an experienced player who was number 1 in the world and understood the professional golf landscape. I understood brand building. And I’d run my own companies and had a lot of knowledge.”
He insists the relationships forged during LIV’s turbulent early years remain strong. “Many of the staff still stay in touch. They’re wonderful people. I always said ‘I’ll let you fail, but I’ll never let you be a failure.’ We were building the plane on the runway, but I had to let them go and do their thing. They had an unlimited budget, but I couldn’t allow them to lose control. We had a great working relationship and they called for advice after I left, which meant a lot. It was a real family spirit.”
And despite LIV’s spectacular financial reversal, Norman says he remains proud of what was achieved.
“Very proud. To start something from a piece of paper and grow it into what it was. It needed a leader like Yasir and his love for the game of golf. It was incredible.”
