"Our responsibility is to look after our players": Greg Norman draws line between PGA Tour and PIF negotiations and LIV Golf's future
No matter what happens, Greg Norman believes LIV Golf will continue to exist. There's been a lot of debate over what happens to the tour once the merger between PIF, LIV's financial backing, and the PGA Tour is complete. At that point, it is not unreasonable to think everything could become one big tour, but Norman insists that LIV will stay.
It is a vastly different format in terms of the team and the 54-hole setup. Therefore, there is still a place for it to exist outside of the PGA Tour even if the merger goes through unadulterated.
Norman did admit that he doesn't know in terms of where the merger is or what's going to happen in the future with it, but that PIF is looking to invest in the PGA Tour just like it invested in LIV. That doesn't mean only one tour can exist (via Yahoo! Sports).
"Investment dollars are flowing into the game of golf for the right reasons, not for the wrong reasons. Our investor wanted to invest into LIV because he loved the opportunity of the franchise model, what he could do with it and how we can build it out on a global platform," Norman said.
Norman doesn't seem to mind that he is not directly involved with the merger and said he isn't too keen on knowing what's going on, as he is so fixated on growing LIV and building the sport of golf even further.
"Building out what LIV is today and looking and doing our schedule for 2025 and going into 2026. Our responsibility is to look after our people, our players, and where we want to go. I don't have an answer," he admitted.
Greg Norman is hyper-focused on LIV and is not at all concerned that the merger will negatively impact his tour.
Greg Norman open to Rory McIlroy discussion
Recent reports suggested that Rory McIlroy was all but guaranteed to be joining LIV Golf for $850 million. That proved to be untrue, as McIlroy came out and said his future is on the PGA Tour and he never got such an offer.
Greg Norman doubled down, saying that the tour hadn't offered McIlroy a contract at all. As for whether or not they would (regardless of what the Irishman said), the LIV CEO said there is a reality where they could:
“If Rory was willing to sit down and have a conversation with us, would we be happy to sit down with him? One-hundred percent. No different than any other player who would be interested in coming on and playing with us. It’s understanding the facts about what LIV represents and what LIV can deliver on a global basis. It’s up to you to determine it," he stated.
Greg Norman knows McIlroy's journey from being the biggest detractor of LIV to someone who accepts it as a part of the sport, but he would treat him just the same as any other prospective member of his tour.