{"id":379119,"date":"2026-01-19T21:59:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T21:59:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/379119\/"},"modified":"2026-01-19T21:59:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T21:59:11","slug":"former-liv-golf-boss-greg-norman-calls-out-tiger-woods-and-rory-mcilroy-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/379119\/","title":{"rendered":"Former LIV Golf boss Greg Norman calls out Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy (again!)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former LIV Golf chief executive Greg Norman has dared Tiger Woods<\/a> and Rory McIlroy to challenge him.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Norman<\/a> led the PIF-backed breakaway’s rise in 2022 before being ousted in the top job by former NFL executive Scott O’Neil at the turn of last year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The two-time major winner, now 70, was heavily criticised by Woods and McIlroy<\/a> at the height of the unprecedented disruption in the men’s game.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Both players called for The Great White Shark to “exit stage left” before peace could be brokered between the establishment and the rival league.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A defiant Norman told The Times of London<\/a> he believes the 82-time PGA Tour winner and the reigning Masters champion have benefitted from his actions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Even if they won’t admit it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Rory <\/p>\n

Rory McIlroy<\/p>\n

“They would never sit down across a table from me and talk to me man-on-man, one-on-one, because I’d win the debate all day long,” Norman said.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

“They couldn’t say to me, ‘Greg, you’ve hurt the PGA Tour<\/a>.’ Hey Tiger, how much did you make out of the [Player Impact Programme]?\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Oh Rory, how much did you make the last couple of years? What’s your prize money?<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I haven’t changed. I’m saying the same thing [as he did at LIV’s outset]. I’m just saying it with a lot of validation of the facts\u2026 everything [new] they’re getting is because of what I put in place.”<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Norman said his biggest regret during his tenure was not forcing his counterpart at PGA Tour HQ, commissioner Jay Monahan, to negotiate.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Australian famously sent Monahan a furious email when the commissioner threatened to indefinitely ban golfers who were contemplating teeing it up with LIV Golf<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Jay <\/p>\n

Jay Monahan<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Monahan followed through and several high-profile golfers remain blacklisted from the Tour, although Brooks Koepka<\/a> has become the first major champion to quit LIV and return.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

“He refused to answer my calls or acknowledge my letters, but I should have jumped in my car, taken an overnight bag with my pyjamas, and just laid on the couch in the foyer outside his office and refused to leave,” Norman said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“As a lifetime member of the PGA Tour, I had every right to do that.”<\/p>\n

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One moment that stands out in the schism between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf came during their inaugural season.<\/p>\n

Monahan appeared on the broadcast during the RBC Canadian Open and invoked the memory of the 9\/11 terrorist attacks when urging members to show their loyalty.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Tiger <\/p>\n

Tiger Woods<\/p>\n

“It went beyond golf because that’s where the PGA Tour wanted to push it,” Norman said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“What’s that comment Monahan is so famous for: ‘Has anybody ever had to apologise for being on the PGA Tour?’\u00a0<\/p>\n

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“He should hang his head in shame for going down that political path.”<\/p>\n

Norman was also on the receiving end of barrage of abuse online and in real life between 2022-2025.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He said what “repulsed me most” was people prejudicing him without knowing what LIV’s business model was and losing friends without even having a conversation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I’m not going to sugar-coat it,” Norman said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

“My wife, my friends, my staff, they could all see what I was going through, but I had to stand strong.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I had to have the roots in the ground to show, even with the [Saudi sovereign wealth fund], you can\u2019t run through a brick wall without getting bloody.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

“What repulsed me the most was people prejudging me without knowing who I am and what our business model was, losing friends without having a conversation or picking up the phone to me, having players speaking out on behalf of the PGA Tour.”<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I love it”<\/p>\n

The aforementioned DeChambeau has been in the headlines recently as his contract is up for renewal.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

DeChambeau appears to have leverage given Koepka’s recent departure.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Telegraph Sport have reported that DeChambeau wants $500m to sign a contract extension.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

He also explained that simply creating content on YouTube and just playing in the major championships was “an increasingly viable option”.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Asked about the situation, Norman said: “I love it.”<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

He added: “It’s free agency. Brooks had an option to stay with LIV or go back to the PGA Tour.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

“He\u2019s an independent contractor who can go wherever he wants. Look at what is happening with Bryson\u2026 God bless him.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I hope he becomes a billionaire out of it.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

“All I wanted to do for 45 years was make sure the players were thought of [first].\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

“We are the ones who carry the buckets of water for every tour. It’s the players, not the institution.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former LIV Golf chief executive Greg Norman has dared Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy to challenge him.\u00a0 Norman…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":379120,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[5904,16203,11769,8693,2623,101,8937,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-379119","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-golf","9":"tag-greg-norman","10":"tag-liv-golf","11":"tag-pga-tour","12":"tag-rory-mcilroy","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-tiger-woods","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom","17":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379119","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=379119"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379119\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/379120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=379119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=379119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=379119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}