PGA Tour wanted Greg Norman gone as LIV boss in new golf deal

A US Senate investigation into the deal that rocked the golf world has shown how precarious LIV boss Greg Norman’s position has become.

Greg Norman’s future at LIV Golf is clouded. Picture: Octavio Passos/Getty Images

PGA Tour officials pushed to oust Greg Norman as LIV Golf chief executive and commissioner during discussions for the merger that rocked golf and a proposal was made for both Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy to own LIV teams according to documents released by the US senate committee investigating the deal.

Norman has barely been sighted and is yet to make a public statement, other than a single tweet, since the deal between the PGA Tour and LIV’s financial backers, the Saudi Public Investment Fund, shook up the sport, with the future of LIV remaining clouded.

The documents released by the US senate subcommittee, which began a hearing on Tuesday regarding the planned alliance, also suggested that McIlroy met with PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan last November in London.

According to the documents, in April this year, as discussions about the merger ramped up, a presentation was put forward for McIlroy and Woods, the PGA Tour’s most outspoken anti-LIV players, to own a team and participate in at least 10 LIV Golf events.

It was quickly rejected.

But the hammer blow in the documents came for Norman in a May 25 side letter to the framework agreement proposed by the PGA Tour that called for Norman to step down once the proposed partnership was finalised.

Australia’s LIV Golf star Cameron Smith with Greg Norman. Picture: Brian Spurlock/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

PGA Tour boss Jay Monahan‘s draft of talking points for announcing the deal also noted that “Norman will be assigned to an advisory role determined by the PIF when the PGA Tour becomes the manager of the LIV Tour”.

It was also clear in emails between PGA Tour policy board chairman Ed Herlihy and board member Jimmy Dunne, who was the main negotiator for the deal, that the PIF was happy for Monahan, not Norman, to oversee LIV Golf.

The framework for the deal, which has been released, stated that Monahan would have the final say on whether LIV continues in 2024. Norman has told LIV staff the breakaway tour will continue and players, including Australian Cameron Smith, remain positive about its future.

Norman declined to appear before the committee because he was out of the country, but he was expected to appear at some stage with the inquiry expected to last months.

The documents reveal the PGA Tour went to the negotiating table when it became clear the PIF was prepared to commit $5bn to LIV, and an email between PGA Tour officials stated the PIF “are confident LIV will prevail over the long term if only because of almost limitless financial resources”.

The documents show the PIF has grown its fund managing assets from $84bn in 2014 to nearly $700bn in 2024.

The framework agreement between the PIF and the PGA Tour must be approved by the PGA Tour‘s 10-member policy board, which includes Herlihy and Dunne as well as McIlroy and four other PGA Tour players.