Last month, golf legend Greg Norman confirmed his departure from LIV Golf altogether after stepping down as the CEO of the Saudi-backed golf league. Now, for the first time since his departure, Norman is opening up about his time leading LIV.
During a recent interview with Australian Golf Digest, Norman indicated that he believed his stint leading LIV Golf was successful, despite “headwinds,” which he attributed to “misconceptions.”
“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,” Norman told the outlet. “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.”
LIV Golf has faced significant scrutiny over the years due to its connection to Saudi Arabia, which has provided the league with substantial financial backing through a massive investment from the nation’s Public Investment Fund. However, Norman believes the investment was beneficial to the sport of professional golf.
With the Saudi backing, LIV Golf was able to lure many top players away from the PGA Tour with the promise of massive cash payments. The money that LIV Golf infused into the sport forced the PGA Tour to increase prizemoney for its tournaments, too.
“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.”
Norman also admitted that his stint as the CEO of LIV Golf was difficult, and what hurt him the most was the judgment he received from others.
“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.”
Following his departure from LIV Golf, Norman said that he plans to focus on his golf course design business, as well as his role in the Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games as a member of the games’ organising committee.
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