For as long as LIV Golf has existed, one accusation has followed Greg Norman. Rory McIlroy said it. Tiger Woods said it. Jon Rahm said it. Three of golf’s biggest names all used the same word in 2022: vendetta. The idea was that Norman did not just want to build a rival golf league. He wanted to hurt the PGA Tour. The Shark scoffs at the suggestion, however.
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Sure, Norman has heard that claim for years. But now with LIV Golf filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and his time as CEO behind him, he has finally answered the accusation directly. In a new interview with golf outlet Flushing It, Norman was asked if he wanted to destroy the PGA Tour when he created LIV Golf. His answer was clear.
“There was zero circumstances I had any intention or thought to take down and destroy the PGA Tour. It would be counterintuitive. There was no chance in hell it could happen.” Norman also said the view of him was unfair and based on one side of the story. “I respect everybody’s opinion, but never judge something on one-sided info. They [the critics] prejudged us and that was very unfair. I’ve always supported US golf, and the PGA Tour has always been a priority. Australia was my number 1, but the US was number 2.”
According to Norman, his goal was never to start a war with the PGA Tour. He wanted LIV Golf to become a global tour. Looking back, he believes PGA Tour was too focused on the US from the beginning.
“It was too US-centric from the start,” Norman said. “I thought, let’s own global golf and let the PGA Tour have the US. They’re a big fish in a small pond; we can be a bigger fish in a bigger pond.”
Norman said his ideal plan was to have 10 LIV events outside the US and only four in the country. He believed this could have allowed LIV and the PGA Tour to work together instead of fighting for the same market.
“It could have been a simple relationship with the PGA Tour,” Norman said. “We had everything; it was a plug and play. We could have gone to the 4 weakest events and brought in the best players in partnership with local communities. It would have made a significant impact on the local economy and added value to the PGA Tour. It would have benefitted all round.”
When asked if he wished his relationship with the PGA Tour had been better, Norman said yes. But he placed much of the blame on PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan.
“Unfortunately, Monahan was too dug in and was given bad advice. He should have spoken to Yasir and myself,” Norman said. “I’m an honorary member of the PGA Tour and just wanted to see the game of golf grow. Yasir always wanted to work with them, and we never wanted to destroy the PGA Tour or the DP World Tour. It was a tremendous opportunity, but Monahan was too dug in.”
Despite running LIV during years of legal battles, Norman claims honorary PGA Tour membership and sees himself as golf’s advocate, not its destroyer. The 2022 accusations stemmed from three major figures questioning Norman’s motives.
In October 2022, McIlroy suggested Norman was using Saudi funding to pursue a long-standing grudge against the PGA Tour.
Tiger Woods made a similar argument a few weeks later at the Hero World Challenge. Woods said Norman would have to leave LIV before the PGA Tour and the Saudi-backed league could have serious talks. He also connected Norman’s actions to 1994, when Norman’s plan for a World Tour was blocked by then-PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem, with Arnold Palmer also opposing the idea.
Jon Rahm also questioned Norman’s motives in November 2022. Before joining LIV himself, Rahm said Norman had carried anger toward the PGA Tour for around 30 years. He believed that history could have influenced Norman’s intentions with LIV.
Greg Norman, however, had already rejected that idea earlier in 2022. In an interview with the New York Post, he said LIV was not created to destroy the PGA Tour. Instead, he said the league was supposed to work alongside the existing golf system. His latest comments show that his position has not changed.
Since 2022, LIV’s fortunes have reversed, with Saudi funding ending after 2026 and the league filing for bankruptcy on September 8.
The bankruptcy has also added an interesting twist to the old vendetta debate. Jon Rahm, who once accused Greg Norman of having a long-running grudge against the PGA Tour, is now listed as LIV’s biggest unsecured creditor. The league owes him nearly $7.5 million. Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson, and Cameron Smith are also among LIV’s biggest creditors.
The league that once looked like a major new force in global golf is now facing a much smaller future. LIV is trying to reorganize as a more player-owned business with financial backing from BC Partners.
Greg Norman is not part of LIV Golf anymore. He was replaced as CEO by Scott O’Neil in January 2025, and his full departure from LIV, after his contract ended in August, was officially announced in September 2025.
Norman departed before the crisis and is now defending his vision as LIV faces bankruptcy. The Shark remains proud of LIV’s team and believes the league forced PGA Tour improvement, though history may judge him differently.