Greg Norman describes LIV Golf tenure as ‘mission accomplished’
Golfing legend says his time at helm of Saudi-backed breakaway league saw growth as well as PGA Tour players receiving better prize money
Australian golf legend Greg Norman said he was proud of what he accomplished as the CEO of LIV Golf and that PGA Tour players had benefited from the Saudi-backed league.
Norman, who stepped down from LIV Golf last month, called his time with the league “mission accomplished” in an interview with Australian Golf Digest.
“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 prize money 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, 70, acknowledged the time commitment along with the intense criticism he endured as one of the primary faces of the breakaway league did take a toll. But he also said that he would do it all again “in a heartbeat”.
“It was very draining on me,” he said. “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.