"We aren't going away" - LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman wants to 'sit down and talk' with the PGA Tour
LIV Golf isn't going away. After two rebels in Brooks Koepka and Phil Mickelson placed second in the Masters, that much is clear. This rivalry between the PGA Tour and Greg Norman's rebel unit isn't dying out and Norman believes a chat is in order.
There hasn't been much communication between the two tours officially. Members and players have spoken to and about one another, but there's hardly been any official meeting to make any sort of headway on the future of the sport.
Norman said via Mirror:
"Yeah, maybe we should sit down and talk. It’s going to happen somehow and somewhere down the line. And why shouldn't it be sooner rather than later? They must realise by now that we aren’t going away.”
He also added that he knows LIV Golf is going to continue to grow:
"We will continually keep going forwards. I have a list of players who want to join - names that will honestly surprise you - but there are contracts that have to be honoured and we will do this responsibly. We have relegation and promotion in place and it’s all going to plan. I think we’ll soon have world ranking points at our events, because otherwise those rankings become obsolete."
It seems as if the LIV Golf CEO believes his league is the future and that the PGA Tour will want to be involved in what's next. He added that the Tour has likely suffered due to its anti-LIV stance:
"They’ve already suffered immensely from us being shut out... There's no doubt they're trying to do everything in their power to shut us down. It's not going to happen. The quicker they acknowledge that, the quicker they just come to make the internal decision within themselves."
It seems unlikely at this stage that PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan will want to sit down with Norman, but he may have no other option.
Brooks Koepka doubles down on Greg Norman's LIV Golf claim
Greg Norman claims that a lot of golfers are ready to make the leap from the PGA Tour or somewhere else to LIV Golf. The league has successfully coaxed a few top golfers from other places to join it and is evidently continuing that trend.
Norman said it, but star Brooks Koepka backed up the claim via Mirror:
"Look, I‘m sure there’s a bunch of guys who are still looking to come over, whether that be college players, younger players, to guys that play on the PGA Tour or DP Tour."
He added that it's always good to make the tour deeper:
"I’m sure there are people looking to join. But yeah, you can always add depth to anything. The stronger we get, the better we are."
However, he hasn't been involved with any recruiting for Norman's league:
I haven’t spoken to anybody that’s on that level to be like, 'Hey, are you coming over to play?' It’s not my style. It’s not usually how I approach anybody.”
Which players do you think will join Brooks Koepka on LIV Golf?