Tiger Woods was in the Bahamas in November 2022 to compete in the Hero World Challenge, where he made a significant statement. “Greg [Norman] has to go,” he opined, suggesting that as a solution for LIV and the PGA Tour to co-exist. That statement, though loaded with resentment, was not a surprise. Woods and Norman have had a historically rocky relationship, but the former wasn’t alone in thinking Norman’s leadership was problematic. Rory McIlroy blamed the 70-year-old for golf’s “civil war” situation after immense power struggles on both sides, which also included legal actions.
And while no one was surprised to see names from the PGA Tour speak out against Norman, when Scott O’Neil replaced the Australian as the CEO in January, LIV Golf’s Jon Rahm made a similar statement. He believed there was too much bad blood between Norman and the governing bodies to function together. So, after O’Neil came on board, ‘The Shark’ shifted to an advisory role, considering his contract had not ended. However, his LIV Golf chapter has officially closed now.
Taking to Instagram, Norman wrote, “After four unforgettable years, I have officially closed out my time with LIV Golf, and reflecting with nothing but gratitude, pride, and achievement. Together, we built a movement that changed the game globally. We created opportunities for both players and fans and broadened the ecosystem of golf. We truly globalized the game and expanded golf’s reach to fans around the world.
“We brought entertainment, innovation, and private equity into golf (including to the PGA Tour), positioning the sport as an asset class. It’s been an incredible chapter, and I’m so proud of what we accomplished. My commitment to do what was and still is the right thing for golf, the players, and fans never waivered. Thank you to everyone who has been part of the journey with me during this time. I’ll always look back on this time with great fulfillment and appreciation.”
His write-up was met with silence from LIV golfers. Though comments to his post were limited, no player from the league talked about his exit or wished him well (at the time of writing this article).
When Norman first took the helm at the Saudi-backed Golf in 2021, he positioned himself as the architect of a bold new alternative to the PGA Tour. He made sweeping promises to convince top players to defect, and one of the biggest incentives was his insistence that LIV Golf events would earn Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points.
He repeatedly assured Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, and others that their rankings would not suffer. LIV Golf first applied for OWGR recognition in July 2022, but in October 2023, the application was formally rejected. The OWGR board cited the same concerns as Wood had as barriers to legitimacy. The league’s 54-hole, no-cut events for 48 players were an issue. Finally, in March 2024, Norman announced the league was withdrawing the application altogether, saying that despite enormous efforts, the OWGR had “shown little willingness to productively work with us.”
Golfer Eugenio Chacarra felt cheated when that happened. He was assured OWGR points, but LIV’s format became a major hindrance. Norman also promised that they would rival the PGA Tour in television viewership. But the numbers tell a different story. In seven head-to-head Sundays by the end of May, the PGA Tour was averaging 3.1 million viewers on CBS/NBC, whereas LIV was averaging 175,000 on FOX/FS1/FS2. So, while the Saudi-backed league generated headlines, its footprint among mainstream fans remained relatively small. Some LIV players quietly accepted that Norman’s departure might be for the greater good.
Greg Norman’s tenure brought about some good changes, too
To fully understand Norman’s legacy, you have to weigh both sides of the ledger. Many of his early promises faltered, but some of his ideas reshaped pro golf’s business model. LIV’s reduced schedule and pre-defined contracts gave players guaranteed income and limited travel fatigue. It was a major departure from the week-to-week grind of the PGA Tour, and made golfers feel more like team-sport athletes. The league’s shotgun starts and compact formats also created shorter, TV-friendly broadcasts that fit modern viewing habits.
Norman also pushed its international reach well beyond what the PGA Tour had attempted. Through the International Series launched with the Asian Tour in 2022, LIV underwrote elevated-purse events across Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. That included a co-funded development event in Morocco in 2025 that opened roughly 40 spots to Arab Golf Federation players. Under his leadership, the league’s 2025 schedule featured 14 tournaments in nine countries across four continents, with plans for 2026 already projecting a similar global footprint.
But the most striking part was how Norman changed the economics for players. Even mid-tier LIV golfers reportedly earned guaranteed contracts ranging from $1 million to $5 million per year, while stars like Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson signed deals worth over $100 million, figures unheard of in traditional golf. The influx of Saudi-backed money gave golfers unprecedented security. These initiatives, especially the global reach, may not pay off immediately, but years from now, rising stars could point to Norman’s early groundwork as their gateway. What do you think?
