Greg Norman has accused the PGA Tour of “deafening hypocrisy” over criticism of LIV Golf’s backing by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.
Norman faced a fierce backlash after he claimed “we all learn from our mistakes” when questioned about the murder of Jamal Khashoggi and Saudi Arabia’s human rights record at a media day in May.
Players who’ve joined the breakaway tour, such as Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson, have been labelled “stooges” by Amnesty International and accused of betrayal by a 9/11 survivors’ group.
But in an interview with Fox News, Norman said suggestions that players were accepting “blood money” were disappointing and hypocritical.
“I’m disappointed people go down that [blood money] path, quite honestly,” he said.
“Look, if they want to look at it in that prism, then why does the PGA Tour have 23 sponsors doing 40-plus billion dollars’ worth of business with Saudi Arabia?
“Why is it okay for the sponsors? Why is it okay that there’s a Saudi sponsor, Aramco, the largest sponsor of women’s golf in the world? Why is it okay for them? Why is it not okay for these players?
“Will [PGA Tour commissioner] Jay Monahan go to each and every one of those CEOs of the 23 companies that are investing into Saudi Arabia and suspend them and ban them?
“The hypocrisy in all this, it’s so loud. It’s deafening.”
The next LIV Golf event will be hosted in Oregon at the end of this month with Bryson DeChambeau and Patrick Reed already confirmed as participants. It is expected there will be further announcements of players set to leave the PGA Tour in the coming week.
”We’re not going anywhere, we want to do what’s right for the fans, for the players, and for our commercial business model,” Norman said.
“We are going to forge forward. And there’s been a lot of obstacles, no question about it. There’s been a lot of obstacles that the PGA Tour’s thrown in our path. But you know what? We’ve worked around it because golf is a force for good.”
