Former agent reveals fascinating secrets about "ultra aggressive" LIV Golf CEO

Former super agent Hughes Norton has revealed some fascinating details about Greg Norman, including where he got the idea for the LIV Golf League.

Johnny Percival

28 Mar 2024

Hughes Norton, the former agent of Greg Norman, has revealed the LIV Golf CEO is a "classic narcissist" and has a "consuming need to be visible and relevant."

The character analysis of Norman came to light in Norton's new book, Rainmaker, which charts his career as a former agent to the stars, as well as the trials and tribulations of working with both Norman and Tiger Woods.

Norton worked with Norman for 11 years and revealed that he was disappointed when the two eventually parted ways in 1993.

Related: Agent slams 'zombie-like' Tiger Woods after being fired out of the blue

In an interview with the Daily Mail, Norton revealed Norman's decision to go his own way felt like a betrayal.

He said:

‘After 11 years together, he wanted to go on his own and I understood that a little bit more than Tiger, because superstars historically have sort of gone on their own after a period of time. They just do, no matter what management agency they’re with.

‘They think you know what, “everything before this has been good, everything's all fine. No hard feelings. I really want to do it myself.” So that's kind of the Greg situation.

‘He's certainly entitled to that. Was I disappointed and shattered when he left? Yes, because we were such good friends and I didn't expect it. But the Tiger situation was far and away more difficult and more disturbing.’

Norton worked for global sports agency IMG when he had both Woods and Norman on his books, and revealed that when Norman left, he took with him the blueprint for the LIV Golf league.

The former super agent revealed that LIV was never, in fact, Norman's idea but the brainchild of IMG's founder and former agent of Arnold Palmer, Mark McCormack.

He added:

"Mark McCormack was such a visionary, and so far ahead of his time - leaps and bounds ahead of everybody. And that's a classic example.

"It's really one of the major revelations of the book. LIV, which Greg has claimed as his own genius idea for a world tour, was actually thought up 30 years before Greg ever brought it out as his by this incredibly bright at-the-time manager of Arnold Palmer.

"Greg left IMG and fired me at the beginning of ‘94. He didn't take long before he launched this world tour idea in the fall of that year."

Despite Norman's first attempt to create a world tour in 94' falling flat on its face, fast forward 30 years, and he has finally achieved his long-time goal thanks to funding from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund.

Since its inception in 2022, LIV has become so much more than the PGA Tour's noisy neighbour, and it's done so by throwing ludicrous amounts of cash at some of the best players in the world.

Most recently, Jon Rahm joined the breakaway league for a reported $600m, with the Spaniard now captaining his own team, Legion XIII, that features another PGA Tour defector, Tyrrell Hatton.

While Norton has insisted he is watching the LIV vs PGA Tour war play out from a distance, he knows exactly what he would have done for his players if he was still an agent.

He said:

"You can talk about loyalty to the PGA or you can talk about violating the traditions of the great sport of golf, but when somebody offers you multi generational wealth? The reaction would be A) How can I turn that down? And the answer is, you can't. And B) Where do I sign? I couldn't in good conscience say no."

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