Greg Norman confirms he will be replaced as LIV Golf CEO for 2025 season
Greg Norman has confirmed he is about to be replaced as CEO of LIV Golf ahead of the 2025 season.
Norman, who has been CEO of the Saudi-bankrolled circuit since it started in 2022, revealed the latest news in an interview with WishTV.com.
The update from Norman comes after multiple recent reports claimed LIV Golf is planning to hire former Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment CEO Scott O’Neil as the next CEO of the breakaway league.
Norman, 69, confirmed he will remain part of the LIV Golf League ‘to some capacity’ moving forwards.
“I’ve seen it (LIV Golf) come from a business model on paper to giving birth on the golf course to where it is today,” Norman told WishTV.
“So, I will always be… Is there going to be a new CEO? Yes. There will be a new CEO. I’m fine with that. Will I always have a place and be involved with LIV to some capacity? Yes. I’ll always have that. Because the impact that has been created in the game of golf by LIV, I’ve had a small, small piece of that, which I’m proud of.”
Norman, a two-time major champion, also gave his thoughts on LIV Golf’s battle to rival the PGA Tour, which remains in ongoing in talks for a new deal with LIV Golf’s bankrollers, the Saudi Public Investment Fund.
“Competition was a great thing for them (PGA Tour) too,” said Norman.
“Now they got an injection from SSG (Strategic Sports Group) of $1.5 billion. Great for the PGA Tour, wonderful. So everywhere you look – In the first couple years, everybody was lambasting us. And now all of a sudden, everybody’s trying to follow us. And I think everybody should take a step back and say, ‘Oh my gosh. How good has this been for the game of golf?’”
Norman also told WishTV.com he considers the professional game is now “in a much better place today than it was a year ago.”
Read the full interview here.
Norman has been involved with LIV Golf since its inception.
In October 2021, he was announced as the chief executive of LIV Golf Investments.
LIV Golf held their inaugural event in June 2022 and the elite men’s game has been divided ever since.
Superstar golfers such as Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Cameron Smith, Dustin Johnson and Jon Rahm have all joined LIV for deals worth more than $100m.
All of those players remained banned from participating in PGA Tour events.
Norman’s tenure with LIV has been marked by disruption, innovation and controversy.
The Australian downplayed the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi by agents of the Saudi government.
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is LIV Golf’s primary backer.
“We’ve all made mistakes,” Norman said, which prompted Sean Bratches to resign as LIV’s first chief commercial officer.
Khashoggi’s widow also chewed out Norman for the remark.
LIV’s inability to secure world ranking points has also frustrated players, with several players now frozen out of the majors.
The breakaway have now abandoned their pursuit of OWGR accreditation.
Norman has also had his fair share of success, too.
The rise of LIV has pushed the PGA Tour to raise their purses and create new initiatives to retain their top players.
It could also be argued he has achieved his lifelong vision having previously tried and failed to start a breakaway golf league in the 1990s.
Norman recently discussed what those early days were like in an interview with GOLF.
He said the ‘hatred’ he received was ‘disgusting’. But it was worth it.
“Nowhere in my entire journey in the last three years since I’ve been CEO and commissioner [of LIV Golf] has someone come up to me and said, ‘What you are doing is wrong’, he said.
“And I think that’s a powerful enough testament of saying that our product is our product and our product is received with open arms by many.”
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