LIV Golf made fatal error in sacking controversial leader, former pro claims

Former LIV Golf pro Lucas Herbert says the breakaway tour would have had a better chance of survival had they not shown Greg Norman the exit door.

Norman was named as the league's first chief executive in 2022 and was a controversial figure during the early days of golf's so-called civil war.

The former Open champion traded frequent barbs with his counterpart on the PGA Tour, Jay Monahan, and even accused Rory McIlroy of being "brainwashed." The Great White Shark was also widely condemned for describing the murder and dismemberment of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi as "a mistake."

All the noise that came with the combative Norman appeared to convince LIV Golf to make a change in leadership. Seasoned sports executive Scott O'Neil was named as his successor in January 2025, but the American was left stunned in March when he was told the Saudi PIF was withdrawing its multibillion-dollar funding of the league.

Despite expressing confidence that he could steer LIV through a financial crisis, the league's lawyers confirmed at the beginning of the month in their bankruptcy hearing in the United States that it intends to wind down operations.

Herbert was among those who decided against committing to a reimagined version of the league, with the 30-year-old opting to return to the DP World Tour in 2027.

The golfer told Fox Sports Australia that he had "no regrets" over the switch and decided he could not carry on owing to a lack of answers about its future.

He added LIV was in a better spot under Norman's leadership and that it would have served the league better had he stayed.

"Greg had his own set of challenges," he said. "He was someone that obviously, throughout his time in the golf industry, when he was playing, had visions and ideas for what it could look like and how players could make more money and probably take the game more worldwide too.

"You can see where there was an appetite there for golf to become more of a global game when it comes to the top end of the elite level. And obviously LIV was a big boost to that.

"That was the vision Greg had, and then I think the problem with him was it was going to become personal about the PGA Tour.

"They took it very personally that Greg was spearheading, essentially, a rival league. I think that was probably the reason why we needed to find someone else."

He added: "Scott was great for the couple of years he was in there.

"He was great energy in the room every day, but I think ultimately he didn't come from a golf industry background and probably made mistakes that were born from not being incredibly familiar with the golfing landscape."

Death of LIV Golf

Rumours began to spread before LIV's stop in Mexico after the 2026 Masters that the PIF was set to pull the plug.

The official confirmation came on 30 April 2026.

LIV created a new executive board tasked with taking the league forward with new financial backers.

O'Neil and his team pitched a 2.0 plan to potential investors and believed they had struck gold by striking an agreement with London-based private equity firm BC Partners.

But the firm pulled out when high-profile names appeared to balk at playing for less money and taking speculative equity in an unproven model.

"There were a lot of meetings," added Herbert. "There were a lot of calls. There was a lot of emails and information sent with LIV later in the season for keeping us up to date with what was going on."

Herbert said there were a lot of problems that needed addressing towards the end of the year, though he declined to offer specifics.

Herbert added: "It felt like a lot of the people that were in charge were probably a bit naive to believe that we were in a better situation than where we were and weren't necessarily doing a great job to address those problems.

"If the management that was in operation for 2026 was going to continue into the future, it was going to have an endpoint.

"I probably got to a stage, too, where I was sick of the speculation around the future of my work, and I just got to a point where I was just sick of that and wanted something that was going to be steady and consistent and reliable."