Norman has ‘no interest’ in talking to PGA

BENGALURU: LIV Golf chief executive Greg Norman said he was no longer prepared to negotiate with the PGA Tour and rejected the Saudifunded series as being a ‘‘breakaway’’ league.

In an interview with The Australian newspaper, Norman said his offers to meet PGA officials were repeatedly declined as the USbased circuit focused on reforming its own tour in an attempt to hang on its their leading players.

British Open champion Cameron Smith became the latest high profilename to join the lucrative LIV series, which counts 12 major winners among its players.

The PGA Tour, which suspended members who competed on the rival LIV circuit, has since made sweeping changes, including increased purses and an earnings assurance programme.

‘‘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. But the PGA Tour has not sat down and had a conversation with myself or any of my investors,’’ Norman said on Wednesday.

‘‘That’s why we are where we are today. 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.’’

Norman also denied LIV was a ‘‘breakaway’’ league and told the newspaper that its ‘‘business model from day one was always built around being inclusive’’.

Critics say LIV Golf, which is bankrolled by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, amounts to ‘‘sportswashing’’ by a nation trying to improve its reputation in the face of criticism over its human rights record.

When asked about that criticism and the presence of protesters at LIV’s most recent event in Boston, Norman said: ‘‘I don’t even pay attention to that, to be honest with you.

‘‘All I can tell you is I’m here for the game of golf . . . I focus on building the best league we can.’’

Meanwhile, Bryson DeChambeau insists he has no regrets about his decision to join the LIV series.

‘‘I couldn’t be happier to be over here,’’ he said. ‘‘I have no buyer’s remorse.’’

The 2020 US Open champion called it the biggest decision he has made besides choosing his agent and added he has the ‘‘ultimate respect’’ for the PGA Tour and the opportunities it provided him.

DeChambeau spoke yesterday at Rich Harvest Farms in suburban Chicago, best known for hosting the Solheim Cup in 2009. It is where the fifth LIV Golf event and fourth on American soil is being held this weekend.

He is part of a field of 48 that includes Smith, Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson and Sergio Garcia. Players on 12 teams of four will compete for points and prize money in a 54hole strokeplay format with no cut and shotgun starts.

The purse is $US25 million ($NZ42 million), with $US4 million going to the individual winner and $US3 million to the winning team.

‘‘What LIV Golf has provided is something new and unique, different, and with that to be said, there’s going to be some disruption and people aren’t going to like it, and I respect every single person that doesn’t think it’s good for the game of golf,’’ DeChambeau said.

‘‘I understand it, but I hope they are openminded enough to go, you know what, let me just give it a chance, and if you give it a chance, you might see something pretty cool.’’ — Reuters/ AP