Rebel LIV Golf boss Greg Norman says there’s ‘massive’ interest from players to join the breakaway circuit…and female players want a piece of it too
- Norman claims women golfers want to join LIV
- Boss says there’s a ‘massive’ queue of interest
- Says he’s had discussions about a women’s league
Women’s golfers are joining a ‘massive’ queue of men’s players seeking involvement in LIV Golf, chief executive Greg Norman says.
Norman says a LIV Women’s series is possible, while delivering another warning to the PGA Tour that legal tactics won’t halt growth of the breakaway league.
‘It’s their (the PGA Tour) choice of what they want to do,’ Norman told reporters in Adelaide on Thursday.
‘If they want to keep putting up road blocks – we’re not going to go anywhere.
‘We have got a product, we have got investment dollars there today, investment dollars into the future.’
Women’s golfers are joining a ‘massive’ queue of men’s players seeking involvement in LIV Golf, chief executive Greg Norman says
Norman said many LPGA Tour players and Ladies European Tour (LET) players had also approached him about establishing a women’s LIV league (Aussie golfer Minjee Lee pictured)
Norman, in Adelaide for the initial Australian tournament of the Saudi Arabian-funded LIV league at the Grange Golf Club starting Friday, said numerous men’s players wanted to join the circuit.
‘That line (of players) is not an imaginary line … there is a massive interest,’ he said.
‘We’re full. We have 48 of the best players in the world that we’re very, very happy with.
‘…. As we look into the future, players want to come on board with us … (the current players) are under contract, some of them for four years, some of them for five years.’
Norman said many LPGA Tour players and Ladies European Tour (LET) players had also approached him about establishing a women’s LIV league.
‘They love what our product is showcasing, they ask all the time ‘how can we get involved, we’d like to a see a LIV Ladies series’,’ he said.
‘Yes, we talk about it internally, and I have had discussions with individual lady players.’
Norman said another LIV event on an Australian swing was possible, with great interest from states other than South Australia.
Norman said another LIV event on an Australian swing was possible, with great interest from states other than South Australia
‘My phone is ringing off the hook,’ he said.
‘But it’s not just Australia, it’s the rest of the world as well.
‘The message is getting out there and the product is showing itself.
‘We’re focused on the next 72 hours and let’s see what happens after that.’
Norman again dismissed criticism of the LIV league for being funded by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.
He said he had never discussed Saudi Arabia’s human rights record with powerbrokers from the fund or country.
‘I am the chairman and CEO of LIV Golf Investments and that’s where I focus, I focus on golf, I stay focused on golf,’ Norman said.
‘My job is to build out LIV and the product we have on a global front … that’s my job.
‘I’ve been involved with golf as a player as well as golf course design – I have built some golf courses in third-world countries, I have built golf courses in communist countries.
‘Golf is a force for good. It goes everywhere with the right platform.’
