“We have come so far in such a short time period,” wrote a seemingly ecstatic Greg Norman on his Instagram handle. The reason? Well, he was celebrating “3 incredible years as CEO and Commissioner” of LIV Golf. But his celebratory message didn’t stop there as he went ahead to add a lot more to his post which included a series of pictures and a big caption that took to praise the Saudi-backed league, all the while taking a jab at the PGA Tour.
Adding on to his commemoratory post, he wrote “I marvel at what we have accomplished to date,” before pointing out many feats that LIV Golf has achieved. Norman highlighted how “Players are now earning more money today than ever before,” before adding how their families, caddies, fans, health & wellness are a priority. Moreover, the commissioner also brought into the limelight how new pathways were brought into place for the athletes to compete, and how they brought energy into the sport and lowered the oldest age demographic while successfully partnering with communities and the global golf ecosystem.
While the ex-pro golfer did point out the various accomplishments, he didn’t fail to express his gratitude towards Yasir Al-Rumayyan for “HIS vision, his genius in identifying virgin space, his patience, his support, and for knowing the franchise model works.” That’s not all. Norman also proudly declared; “LIV Golf belongs and LIV Golf is here to stay!”
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Do you think Greg Norman’s claims about the PGA Tour were justified?
Who do you think is more to blame for the tensions in the PGA Tour?
Do you think Bryson DeChambeau’s triumph over Paige Spiranac and other golf creators proves his dominance?
What do you think is causing the wave of illnesses on the LPGA Tour?
But all of those fell on deaf ears, unfortunately. While many did express their support and nodded in agreement with the LIV Golf CEO’s words, a lot of those who commented on the post weren’t too accepting of the same. For they took to poke the Australian shark for the words he dished out.
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Greg Norman’s post fails to impress fans
Back at the first event of the 2024 LIV Golf season in Mayakoba, only a total of 168,000 people tuned in to watch the action on Saturday with it increasing to a figure of 432,000 on Sunday. However, as Joaquin Niemann ended up winning the same, the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, on the other hand, ranked in 1.951 million viewers on Saturday. The figures still seem to linger in many of the fans’s minds as some took to comment, “Too bad nobody watches or cares,” and “Anyone want to tell them absolutely nobody cares about Greg Norman??”
“There’s a lot of elements to them,” said Jay Monahan ahead of the St. Jude Championship, “When you have the level of interaction, we’re continuing to meet and move forward and discuss and debate, you can’t be anything but hopeful.” The PGA Tour commissioner’s words two weeks back seem to have drawn a bleak future for its merger with the PIF. What’s more, it appears there would only be more delay to the final framework agreement. A follower alluded to the same as they responded, “Incredible accomplishments that Greg has made up in his head. LIV is more and more irrelevant every day and the only hope is for the merger to happen. That looks like it is on the deliberately slow path. Let’s see if it is here in 3 more years 72 holes is real golf.”
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Since its inception in 2021, the Greg Norman-led LIV Golf has managed to sign in many top athletes of the game. From Brooks Koepka joining the league for $130 million, to Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm doing the same for a reported $125 million and $500 million, respectively, a lot of golfers have made the decision. However, in doing so, they were subjected to a situation where the OWGR points eluded them, causing many to be unable to play in the majors. Consequently, a couple of PGA Tour loyalists commented, “I feel like they haven’t taken a single step other than continuing to buy out top talent….. what’s the other progress?” and “Never watched LIV, Never will. No respect for the players that went or Norman. Don’t think they should be allowed to play in the Majors either.”
Despite all the hate being directed at Greg Norman, the shark seems to be adamant about going strong as the third season of the Saudi-backed league comes to an end. Even so, one can’t help but turn to the comments directed against the LIV Golf CEO. What do you think about the post and its comments? Do you agree with them?
