Aussie golf legend and LIV CEO Greg Norman breaks silence over shock sacking: ‘I’m fine with that’

Greg Norman has confirmed he will be replaced as CEO of LIV Golf and says he is ‘fine with it’.

Amid reports that his successor has been found, Norman was asked in an interview with Indiana News TV station WISH-TV whether he had hoped to continue in the role he has held since the creation of the breakaway Saudi Arabia funded circuit.

“I’ve seen it (LIV Golf) evolve from a business model on paper to being born on the golf course to where it is today,” Norman said.

‘Will there be a new CEO? Yes. There will be a new CEO. I’m fine with that.

‘Will I always have a place and be involved in LIV in some sense? Yes. I always will.

“The impact LIV has created in the game of golf has given me a small, small piece of that that I’m proud of.”

Former world number 1 is one of the most divisive figures in the Gulf civil war

It has been reported in recent days that LIV Golf is expected to hire former NBA and NHL executive Scott O’Neil to replace Norman, who was sometimes seen as a divisive figure during the bitter battle with the PGA Tour.

But the 69-year-old Australian former world number 1 was convinced that everyone – including the game – has benefited from the arrival of the three-season-old LIV Golf.

The PGA Tour, DP World Tour and the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) have been trying to negotiate a deal since announcing a surprise ‘framework agreement’ in June 2023.

Tiger Woods, a member of the PGA Tour policy council, expressed frustration with the talks this week, saying, “I think all of us who have been part of this process would have thought it would have happened more quickly.

‘But we wish we had something more concrete and further along than we are now.

‘I think something will be done. In what form I don’t know yet.’

Norman says he will remain involved in the breakout tour

Norman said he believed golf was already “in a better place” than it was a year ago, citing the PGA Tour’s financing deal with a group made up mostly of sports team owners.

“Competition was a great thing for them (the PGA Tour) too,” Norman said in his WISH-TV interview. ‘Now they got an injection from SSG (Strategic Sports Group) of 1.5 billion dollars. Great for the PGA Tour, great.

“So everywhere you look, for the first few years, everyone was criticizing us. And now everyone is suddenly trying to follow us. And I think everyone needs to take a step back and say, ‘Oh my god. How good has this been for the game of golf?”