Greg Norman hits out at ‘disgusting’ LIV Golf critics

Greg Norman has once again questioned the treatment of the players that opted for a new life with LIV Golf.

PGA and DP World Tour stars including Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood, Graeme McDowell and Louis Oosthuizen all jumped ship when the start-up league, funded by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, came calling. They were later joined by the likes of – most notably – Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm.

And Norman, whose position as LIV’s CEO came with its own backlash, has struggled to hide his contempt for the rest of the golf world and how his players have been criticised so publicly.

But it’s that initial reaction which clearly still grates for the Australian – who made no attempt to hide his disdain in a recent appearance on Bloomberg’s Latitude series.

“I compliment the boys who came over, the first movers,” he told presenter Haslinda Amin. “They came on with massive amounts of headwind.

“The vitriol and hatred was just disgusting, to be quite honest with you, considering what these guys have done for the game of golf, how they have carried the game of golf, and the institutions they represented.

“It was disgusting.”

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And while representatives of the PIF – including governer Yasir Al-Rumayyan – have been trying to thrash out a deal with the PGA Tour to put an end to the so-called civil war that has dominated the sport for the past two years, Norman doesn’t see it as the end of LIV Golf.

“We’re in our infancy for growth,” the two-time Open champion explained. “Take venues, for example. We started out a couple of years ago doing nine and five – nine in the US and nine international – and now that’s flipped.

“The global scene has opened its arms to us in a significant way.

“Ultimately, we’ll end up taking the game on a global basis.”

LIV Golf is yet to confirm its 2025 schedule.

Alex Perry is the Associate Editor of bunkered. A journalist for more than 20 years, he has been a golf industry stalwart for the majority of his career and, in a five-year spell at ESPN, covered every sporting event you can think of. He completed his own Grand Slam at the 2023 Masters, having fallen in love with the sport at his hometown club of Okehampton and on the links of nearby Bude & North Cornwall.

Associate Editor