Greg Norman has continued the ongoing war of words within golf, arguing that the PGA Tour is "trying to destroy" his LIV Golf circuit.
The inception of LIV Golf has proved divisive over recent months, especially with a host of big-name players making the move to the Saudi-backed series, including Open champion Cameron Smith, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka and Phil Mickelson - while European Ryder Cup stalwarts Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood also said yes to the advances.
LIV Golf's momentum has created friction with the other tours, most notably the PGA Tour, who have come down hard on the rebels of Norman's tour.
A breakthrough in talks doesn't appear to be on the horizon, and Norman himself has claimed that his attempts to discuss a solution with the rival PGA Tour have been turned down.
He told The Australian : “This notion we’re trying to destroy tours is not true. The PGA Tour is trying to destroy us, it’s as simple as that.
“The PGA Tour has not sat down and had a conversation with myself or any of my investors.
“We tried awfully hard, I know I did personally for the past year. When we knew we were never going to hear from them, we just decided to go.
“We have no interest in sitting down with them, to be honest with you, because our product is working.”
The LIV Golf tour resumes tomorrow, with the Invitational Chicago taking place at Rich Harvest Farms. And Norman soon wants to take his circuit global, with ambitions to play in his home nation of Australia.
And he received a big boost regarding his plans, with New South Wales' sport minister claiming the state is "ready and willing" to hold talks with LIV Golf.
Speaking to The Guardian , the minister revealed: "With some of the best courses in Australia, NSW is the perfect place to host major golf tournaments. We are ready and willing to have discussions about bringing more professional tour events to NSW.”
Alister Henskens also commented on the increased popularity of golf in his state, adding: "NSW has more than 166,000 registered golfers, upwards of 370 courses and the game has an economic impact of about $1.3bn annually to the NSW economy."
