Greg Norman reveals his biggest LIV Golf regret after league’s bankruptcy filing

Greg Norman has admitted LIV Golf got one of its biggest strategic decisions wrong from the outset, while insisting he never intended to destroy the PGA Tour.

The former LIV CEO and commissioner offered his most detailed assessment yet of the controversial Saudi-backed league in an interview with Flushing It’s Tom Hobbs, just days after LIV Golf filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Norman, who left his leadership role two years ago with Scott O’Neil taking over, remains adamant that his objective was never to bring down the PGA Tour.

“I never wanted to destroy the PGA Tour,” Norman told Hobbs, while arguing that LIV was unfairly judged during the bitter split in professional golf.

According to Norman, his biggest strategic regret was allowing LIV to become too focused on the United States.

“It was too US-centric from the start,” he admitted.

His original vision was very different. Rather than attempting to directly compete with the PGA Tour for control of the US market, Norman envisaged LIV becoming a truly global circuit.

“I thought, let’s own global golf and let the PGA Tour have the US,” he explained.

Norman says his ideal schedule would eventually have featured 10 events outside the US and only four on American soil.

He also believes the conflict with the PGA Tour could have been avoided altogether.

In his view, LIV could have complemented the established tours by targeting weaker events and bringing its leading players into tournaments where they could generate additional interest and economic activity.

“We had everything. It was plug and play,” Norman said, arguing that a partnership could have benefited tournaments, local communities and the PGA Tour itself.

Instead, the emergence of LIV triggered one of the most bitter periods in modern professional golf, with players, executives and governing bodies becoming embroiled in a battle over the sport’s future.

Norman remains critical of former PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, claiming he and Saudi PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan should have found a way to work together much earlier.

“Unfortunately, Monahan was too dug in and was given bad advice,” Norman said.

“He should have spoken to (PIF governor) Yasir (Al-Rumayyan) and myself. I’m an honorary member of the PGA Tour and just wanted to see the game of golf grow.

“Yasir always wanted to work with them and we never wanted to destroy the PGA Tour or the DP World Tour. It was a tremendous opportunity but Monahan was too dug in.”

The Australian also believes LIV ultimately achieved one important objective: forcing change within the PGA Tour.

He pointed to increased player earnings and improvements in the Tour’s product as evidence that the disruption had an impact.

“I would love a PGA Tour player to admit they’ve made more money, and that the production is now better. We created that. We forced the change,” Norman said.

Norman's latest comments come at a particularly significant moment for LIV.

The league has entered Chapter 11 amid reported liabilities of between $500 million and $1 billion, although the organisation insists the process is intended to restructure the business rather than bring it to an end.

Norman says the financial difficulties were becoming apparent before the filing and believes the restructuring is a logical consequence of the Saudi PIF’s decision to stop financing the operation.

“I think everyone could see it coming,” he said.

Despite leaving LIV, Norman also revealed that he has had relatively little contact with O’Neil since stepping away. He maintains, however, that the organisation was performing strongly when he departed.

One of his biggest unfulfilled ambitions involved LIV’s team franchises. Norman believes national golf organisations could eventually have taken control of individual teams, with a Japanese franchise, for example, potentially being operated by the Japan Golf Tour.

He remains convinced that model could have significant value for growing golf in individual countries.

And despite LIV’s current financial predicament, Norman insists he has few regrets about taking on the challenge.

“Very proud,” he said when asked about his legacy.

For Norman, the achievement was taking an idea from a blank sheet of paper and turning it into a professional golf league capable of fundamentally changing the sport’s landscape.

The experiment has undoubtedly taken a very different turn from the one he originally imagined.

But Norman remains convinced that the disruption LIV created will form part of his legacy — and that professional golf is different because he helped build it.