Norman teases "easy" PGA fix as he reveals LIV players have made a confession

LIV Golf's Greg Norman says he is still hoping to sit down and talk with the PGA Tour as he believes there is a simple solution to golf's civil war.

Ben Smith

03 Nov 2022

Norman teases "easy" PGA fix as he reveals LIV players have made a confession — Norman teases "easy" PGA fix as he reveals LIV players have made a…

LIV Golf commissioner Greg Norman still hasn't given up on opening up a dialogue with the PGA Tour as he teased an "easy fix" between the warring tours.

Norman, 67, remained curiously silent during LIV Golf's team championship in Miami at Trump National Doral last week which was won by Dustin Johnson's 4 Aces GC side.

But now Norman has come out firing again, claiming he did not create the vitriol, ill will and that the PGA Tour "created this angst".

Norman spoke to the media on Wednesday where he claimed that some players who played in LIV Golf events always wanted to go back and play in PGA Tour events.

To some of LIV's critics, this would be seen as players having their cake and eating it. Norman appears to have no time for that, suggesting that "competition in its healthiest form helps build businesses".

Norman told the media of the PGA Tour:

"I think the ball is in their court now. We have tried on many angles, many fronts. It's very disappointing, this vitriol, this ill will. I can tell you with my and on my heart, all of the PGA Tour players and DP World Tour players who played with LIV ... they want to [be able to] go back and play on the PGA Tour.

"Some of them are now saying no. But in the beginning they all wanted to go back.

"The PGA Tour has created this angst. We did not create the angst. Why does competition create heartburn? Why the vitriol?"

So what is the solution? Norman said:

"I think it' a very easy fix. I think there are two, maybe three items that can be discussed. I personally see it as an easy fix. The only way you find out is you have a dialogue.

"You find out. You sit down and have a conversation. What's wrong with finding out what a competitor might be willing to do? To shove a stake in the ground and a make a beachhead everybody believes is impenetrable, that's not healthy for golf.

"What's healthy is competition. What we've delivered in eight weeks is incredible. Sure, there are naysayers out there. The PGA Tour has been the only place you could go, the only place we could play golf, the only place where the best of golf could go. Competition is the healthiest form and helps build businesses."

LIV Golf will be officially called the LIV Golf League in 2023. The format will essentially be the same, with 12 teams of four individuals for themselves and their team mates.

There will be 14 events globally, with prize purses of $25m at each event. In 2023, there will be as many as 60 players involved on the roster.

Phil Mickelson, who has been seen as the de facto head of the controversial series, claims his passion for the game has been "renewed" but his comments caused a bit of a backlash.

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Elsewhere, it has been reported that Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay are just two of the big names Norman's LIV are targeting.

LIV's chief of operations, Atul Khosla, has teased as many as four new singings before the end of the year.

Norman said there may be more to come, plus there are apparently some expressing interest in owning an equity stake in the team element.

He said:

"I've already been approached by individuals who have expressed an interest in wanting to be involved in either owning a percentage or acquiring a team

"Those discussions are there already. We've not there as a league yet to entertain that. The value of the league and each team will go up as the success gets seen on a global basis.

"There will be a heck of a lot more value as you come out of 2023. A lot of these teams are not built up yet."