Greg Norman has told LIV Golf staff it is business as usual despite the circuit's merger with the PGA Tour being confirmed.
One of the biggest announcements in the sport’s history was made on Tuesday when the two golf tours, who have engaged in a civil war over the past year, announced they will now join together. The news came less than a year after PGA Commissioner Jay Monahan insisted such a deal would never come to fruition.
However, in the joint statements released by the PGA Tour, the DP World Tour, and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), Norman’s name was missing. The Australian has been the LIV Golf chief executive since 2021 but was not listed as a member of the new and unified board.
Therefore, speculation has raged regarding the 68-year-old’s future with suggestion he will no longer be involved when the merger took place. But in contrast to those claims, Norman spoke on a LIV Golf conference call insisting that is not the case and telling staff it is business as usual.
“The spigot is now wide open for commercial sponsorships, blue-chip companies, TV networks,” Norman said on Wednesday, according to Sports Illustrated.
“LIV is and will continue to be a standalone enterprise. Our business model will not change. We changed history and we're not going anywhere.”
Norman's comments come after the governor of the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), Yasir Al-Rumayyan, admitted that the former golfer was only made aware of the merger just before he gave an interview to confirm it.
He said: "I made a call just before this and of course he is a partner with us, and all the stakeholders that we have with us they had the call right before this interview." On Tuesday, Norman celebrated the merger by tweeting: “A great day in global golf for players and fans alike. The journey continues!!”
Norman had been a staunch defender of LIV and criticised those on the PGA who were not in favour of the tour, such as Rory McIlroy. "All due respect, Rory. He doesn’t know anything about LIV. He knows something about the PGA Tour,” Norman said.
“He sits on the PAC (Player Advisory Council). But Rory doesn’t know what he’s talking about with LIV because he doesn’t know the facts. And if he wants to throw out a comment like that — I’ve always been a fan of Rory’s but my advice to him would be to just sit back, just take stock, watch what happens and watch what you say.
"Because in the end, there may be a situation where he’ll be asked a few questions that he may not want to answer because of the way he’s come out and been vocal on that front." The Northern Irishman issued some strong words for his LIV rivals following the shock merger. Speaking at the Canadian Open, McIlroy said of those who left: "There still has to be actions. The people who left the PGA Tour... we can't just let them back in."
