DP World Tour winner: ‘I’d never join LIV Golf’

It took Niklas Norgaard eight years to win on the DP World Tour after turning pro in 2016.

But now, the 32-year-old Dane is looking up after spending most of his career surviving – and that’s why he admits he won’t ever join LIV Golf.

Born in Copenhagen, Norgaard joined the Nordic Golf League in 2016, graduated from the Challenge Tour and now has a PGA Tour card.

A first tour win at the 2024 Betfred British Masters was the catalyst to his Stateside ticket via the Race to Dubai and, while it was an invaluable journey, he insists it was incredibly difficult.

“It’s almost impossible to make any kind of living out of it,” he tells bunkered. “You just really have to survive.

“There are so many golfers trying to make it, I mean, I slept in some messed up places just trying to make ends meet. I remember at one point I had £2,000 left in my account. That’s all I had left. And that was in May – I had to make it last.

“To be honest, I do miss that sometimes, because playing on the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, it’s so comfortable, and we’re so serviced all the time. I kind of missed it being very tough sometimes.”

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Now he can reflect on it, Norgaard explains that – and his desire to contest the game’s biggest events – is why he’d turn down a move to the Saudi-backed circuit.

“That’s why I would never choose to go to LIV, no matter the money,” he said. “Because what has kept me going all the time has just been I want to play majors. I want to play Ryder Cup. I want to play against the best on the best courses.

“It took me six years just to get to the DP World Tour and, once you’re there, you really have to love golf to keep going.”

But Norgaard, who missed the cut on his major debut at Quail Hollow last week, isn’t surprised some of his former peers made the move.

Tom McKibbin was another who sealed a PGA Tour card last season, but the Northern Irishman joined LIV Golf and signed with Jon Rahm’s Legion XIII.

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“Everybody is playing for something different, and, you know, motivated by something different,” Norgaard adds. “And for some it’s money. For some it’s just golf, and some it’s a third thing.

“But no, I’m not surprised, because I get it. It’s such a big amount of money you can get, and you can secure the rest of your life.

“I just know when I wake up in the morning, I don’t think I would be happy there. When I really have good days, it’s when I go to bed at night and I believe I’ve really done something.

“I’ve become better today. I practised well; I did well. It wouldn’t be how much money I made today. It’s just about I want to do well in majors.”

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This feature first appeared in the June 2025 edition of bunkered. Never miss an issue with a subscription. International subs also available.

John Turnbull A graduate of the University of Stirling, John joined the bunkered team in 2023 as a Content Producer, with a responsibility for covering all breaking news, tour news, grassroots content and much more besides. A keen golfer, he plays the majority of his golf at Falkirk Tryst Golf Club. Top of his 'bucket list' is a round of Pebble Beach... ideally in the company of Gareth Bale.