We will back you, Norman assures breakaway stars
GREG Norman has pledged to ‘defend, reimburse and represent’ any players facing sanctions by participating in the LIV Golf Invitational Series after being denied permission to do so by the PGA Tour.
Phil Mickelson and Lee Westwood are among the professionals to have asked for the required release to play the first 54-hole event at Centurion Club, which boasts a total prize fund of $25million (€23.75m) with $4m going to the winner.
However, PGA Tour members were informed on Tuesday that releases will not be granted, leaving them open to possible bans or fines if they do tee it up in St Albans from June 9-11.
Asked at a LIV Golf media event at Centurion if his legal team had injunctions in place to protect players in the face of any bans, including potentially from major championships, Norman — who is the CEO of LIV Golf — said: ‘Yes.’ He added: ‘We are going to back up the players, we are going to be there for them, for whatever that is. We’re ready to go. We don’t want to go, but we’re ready to go.
‘It will be the player’s choice. I’m not going to begrudge any player who makes a decision to play wherever he wants. We’re giving them the ability because we believe LIV is here for a long period of time. If you want to go exclusively to the PGA Tour, happy days, go do it. I guarantee that a lot of people will come eventually to play with LIV Golf.
‘I’ve said to the players, “we’ve got your back. Simple as that”. We will defend, we will reimburse and we will represent.’
Meanwhile, Europe captain Henrik Stenson has named Thomas Bjorn as his first vice-captain for the 2023 Ryder Cup in Italy.
Bjorn captained Europe to victory in Paris in 2018 and was a vice-captain on four occasions.