“I think Greg has to go, first of all,” said Tiger Woods in 2022. Much has changed since then. The PGA Tour, PIF, and the DP World Tour look closer to hashing out a deal than they were two years ago. And the time has come for Greg Norman to leave.
via Imago
Reportedly, LIV Golf has already found Norman’s replacement. Former Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment (HBSE) executive Scott O’Neil will replace Great White Shark later this year. Now, Greg Norman also admitted that his LIV Golf contract will expire by August 2025. And LIV Golf might announce the new CEO as soon as next week.
It might appear that the prophecy has come true. But Norman won’t ‘exit stage left’ as Woods’s friend Rory McIlroy wanted. Reportedly, Norman will work behind the scenes. Although it’s not clear how much power he will wield, Shark is expected to take up a different role.
Recently, Norman shared a few snippets from his trip to East Asia. He was instrumental in finalizing LIV Golf’s South Korea move. Coincidentally, the venue, Jack Nicklaus Golf Club, hosted a DP World Tour event weeks back. Moreover, Norman also plans to bring the nascent league to Japan, another strong Asian market.
Data reveals that the craze for golf in Japan is even more than in South Korea. In a recent picture, Norman was seen presenting a blueprint for LIV Golf Japan 2026. Currently, Japan hosts the PGA Tour’s Zozo Championship.
It should be noted that, per the latest report, PIF, LIV Golf’s financial backer, and the DP World Tour are now involved in chalking out a separate agreement. While Norman’s influence in this matter is doubtful, there are a few other reasons to believe that the two-time major champion will play an important role in shaping LIV’s future.
Greg Norman wants to make LIV Golf more global
Greg Norman is living his 90s dream of a global tour through LIV Golf. In PIF, the 69-year-old has found a financial backer that funded his disruptive project. Since last year, LIV has been actively looking at newer markets like Hong Kong and Singapore. Both venues feature in the PIF-funded sides’s next schedule.
Greg Norman, despite his hampered reputation on Stateside, still enjoys a ‘global champion’ status overseas. As David Feherty rightly noted in a recent interview, Norman was a global golf icon before Tiger Woods took that mantle. So, it won’t be surprising if the two-time major winner is given an ambassadorial role in the future.
More importantly, Norman’s outsized influence on players is hard to ignore. From Cam Smith, Jon Rahm, and Bryson DeChambeau to Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson, Greg Norman is known to have a good rapport with players of different age groups. All in all, even though the 69-year-old will leave his seat at the top, he is likely to have an important role to play in the future.
