LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman has hit back at PGA Tour stars Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, after the pair called on the former world No. 1 to be sacked from his role in charge of the breakaway circuit.
LIV and the PGA Tour have found themselves embroiled in a battle since the Saudi-funded series' inception last summer. One man who has found himself at the centre of the drama is Norman, having held no punches when discussing his PGA rivals in the past.
And the bad-mouthing has been mutual, with Norman often facing criticism from his rivals over on the American-based circuit.
Most notably, two names who have spoken openly against the Australian and LIV Golf are Woods and McIlroy. Discussing the possibility of the PGA Tour and LIV Golf settling their differences last November, four-time major champion McIlroy believes the only way the two rivals will come to some sort of agreement is if Norman is not involved.
McIlroy said: "I think Greg needs to go. I think he just needs to exit stage left. He's made his mark but I think now is the right time to sort of say, look, you've got this thing off the ground but no one is going to talk unless there's an adult in the room that can actually try to mend fences."
And this was also echoed by the Northern Irishman's ally Woods. "Greg has to go, first of all,” demanded the 82-time PGA Tour winner. “Then obviously litigation against us and then our countersuit against them, those would then have to be at a stay as well. So then we can talk, we can all talk freely.”
In response, Norman has admitted the slamming does not get to him, he was left surprised by the continued 'vitriol'. He told the Daily Telegraph : "I've got a thick skin, that doesn't bother me, although I am a bit shocked by the level of vitriol.
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"My shield has had to be extra beefed up. But I'm not going to fall prey to the pressures of other people thinking I'm going to weaken or buckle. I've never done that in my entire career. We have a fantastic product here and the backers know that.”
Norman has taken the breakaway league to his home country for the very first time this week, with LIV Adelaide kicking off on Friday. The former world No. 1 is no doubt looking forward to the sell-out event, and used it to once again take a jibe at his PGA Tour rivals.
He added: "My homeland has been starved of top-class golf. Yeah, the Tour brought the Presidents Cup here [in 2019] but that was one week in a few decades of promises. Big deal. We might have two LIV events in Australia next year. Who knows."
