‘That was a big concern’: Greg Norman on surge of PGA Tour support by top players

Greg Norman-led LIV Golf Investments made a splash this week with the release of the LIV Golf Invitational Series, which launches in June and will award $255 million in total purses over the course of eight events.

While there are still a number of unknowns regarding the fledgling Tour — who will participate? How will the PGA Tour respond? Which network will provide the broadcast? — Norman appeared on this week’s episode of Subpar to answer a few burning questions. Among them: What Norman thought about many top players publicly backing the PGA Tour at Riviera in the wake of Phil Mickelson’s controversial remarks about his involvement with LIV Golf.

News

“No question about it, that was a big concern for us. Did it catch us by surprise? We had rumblings, we had intelligence that that was gonna happen,” Norman told hosts Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz. “But, you know, so be it. That’s one of those obstacles, and you have to figure it out. And we adjusted, we did what we needed to do, and here we are. So look, it’s down to the players to take a look at their opportunities and where they want to go.

“This morning, my phone has been abuzz with players,” he continued. “My emails from 250 of them being sent out last night, my inbox is pretty full, to be honest with you. And each and every one of them is saying, hey — and I’m talking about top players in the world too, by the way — saying hey, I’m looking forward to seeing the news today. And then, boom, out comes the news. It’s just incredible, the amount of interest given for the players to look at the opportunities they have.”

For more from Norman, including his thoughts on Phil’s comments and how the Ryder Cup helped shape Norman’s idea for a new league, check out the full interview below.

Golf.com Editor

As a four-year member of Columbia’s inaugural class of female varsity golfers, Jessica can out-birdie everyone on the masthead. She can out-hustle them in the office, too, where she’s primarily responsible for producing both print and online features, and overseeing major special projects, such as GOLF’s inaugural Style Is­sue, which debuted in February 2018. Her origi­nal interview series, “A Round With,” debuted in November of 2015, and appeared in both in the magazine and in video form on GOLF.com.

• Author Twitter Account
• Author Instagram Account