NormanN presses cause for LIV
LIV Golf League commissioner Greg Norman vows the Saudibacked series is going “full steam ahead” despite a new PGA Tour deal worth up to $3 billion with US sports team investors.
Reigning Masters champion Jon Rahm makes his LIV Golf debut on Saturday when the circuit begins a third season at Mayakoba in Mexico.
Norman, in a letter to LIV staff obtained by The Golf Channel, took credit for creating the atmosphere that set up the PGA Tour deal with Strategic S p o r t s Group (SSG) even as merger talks drag on between the PGA and DP World tours and LIV’S backers, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF).
“Nothing announced by other tours or investment groups changes LIV Golf’s positive trajectory or future plans,” Norman wrote, according to Golf Channel on Thursday.
“This broader interest and commitment to the game and investment in its future would not have happened without the emergence of LIV Golf as an innovative force in the golf ecosystem.”
The PGA Tour and PIF announced the framework agreement for a merger deal last June but have not managed to hammer out details of a final contract, including possible punishments for PGA defectors to LIV wanting to return.
While the agreement did shut down lawsuits that would have revealed details of PIF and PGA operations, nothing else has been settled.
Three-time major winner Jordan Spieth said Wednesday there was no need for a merger now, other than reuniting top players under one group, even though the PGA-SSG deal allows for an investment from PIF.