Greg Norman has claimed the treatment of his LIV stars has been keeping him awake at night as golf's civil war continues to escalate.
The divisive saga has heated up further in the past week, with Open champion Cameron Smith all but confirming he is soon to play on the Saudi-backed breakaway tour. The Australian, currently competing in the St Jude Invitational FedEX playoff event, appeared to be treated with hostility by playing partner Scottie Scheffler during their opening round on Thursday.
But unlike Smith, three LIV players to have already put pen to paper were barred from competing at TPC Southwind after losing a legal battle to get their PGA Tour suspensions overturned. In a damning court verdict, Talor Gooch, Hudson Swafford and Matt Jones were accused by the judge of hypocrisy amid their attempt to earn money from both tours.
LIV Golf CEO Norman has been notoriously aggressive in his dealings with the PGA Tour ever since announcing his new initiative last year. His recent capture of Henrik Stenson, which led to the Swede being stripped of the European 2023 Ryder Cup captaincy, was viewed as a direct attempt to disrupt the iconic team competition.
But throughout, 'The Great White Shark' has claimed, somewhat questionably, that the rebel tour is designed to 'grow the game of golf'. And he's offered to financially back any players sanctioned by their former tours for defecting.
As it stands, those who have switched allegiances are still permitted to play in major championships. However, further concessions from the PGA appear unlikely at this stage, with the two parties seemingly some distance away from peaceful negotiations.
But Norman, 67, has claimed he isn't concerned about LIV Golf being adversely concerned. He says he worries only for the welfare of the players involved.
"I don’t wake up with any fear about what LIV is and where LIV’s going to go because LIV is the future of golf," he told Forbes Magazine. "What I do wake up in the nighttime: worrying about how the players have been treated. Simple as that."
Norman has currently overseen three events in 2022 at The Centurion in Hertfordshire, and then in Portland and Bedminster in the US. South Africans Charl Schwartzel and Branden Grace, and Stenson, have been the respective winners so far.
Further 54-hole tournaments, with a team format running alongside the individual competitions, are scheduled for Boston, Chicago, Bangkok, Jeddah and Miami before the year is out. And an expanded schedule has already been announced by organisers for 22.
Norman initially seemed to struggle to sign star power for his venture but has been in bullish mood of late, claiming a number of top players are now pleading to join. But the two-time Open champion has revealed the deadline for 2022 has passed.
“It’s interesting, we’re still getting calls from agents of top-40 players in the world wanting to join LIV but it’s too late now," he said. "What it tells me though, is what we’re doing is very appealing to the world’s best players.”
