Greg Norman: I’d rather see LIV Golf end than wither away

Former LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman has said he would rather see the rebel tour scrapped altogether than continue in a diminished form.

The tour’s future is in serious doubt after Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund withdrew its backing earlier this year, having already spent $5bn on rivalling the PGA Tour.

Talks continue over a slimmed-down offering next year with investment from BC Partners, but that may depend on whether stars Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm commit to LIV Golf.

“I’m sad, disappointed, gutted to be honest,” Norman, who launched LIV Golf in a blaze of big-money signings and controversy in 2022, told golf outlet Skratch. “I hate to see it wither away. I would rather just see it end.”

Players received a presentation from BC Partners’ Ted Goldthorpe on a vision for “LIV 2.0” last week in Indianapolis, where the current season was brought to a premature end.

LIV CEO Scott O’Neil has insisted he remains hopeful of a way forward for the tour, which would likely mean a reduced calendar of eight to 10 events and far smaller prize money purses.

Norman ‘believed in vision’ of LIV Golf

It is a far cry from the bombast with which Norman announced the arrival of LIV Golf four and a half years ago, when he promised it would create “generational wealth” for players.

The tour has elevated prize money significantly, forcing the PGA Tour to follow suit, although other aspects of its vision, such as making its teams billion-dollar-valued franchises, have yet to be realised.

“We were a family. We were united by the feeling that we were doing something new and exciting for the game of golf,” added Norman, who was replaced by O’Neil in early 2025. 

“It took an unbelievable amount of effort, and there were constant headwinds, but we did it because we believed in the vision.”