Has Greg Norman Changed Golf For The Better

You could never accuse Greg Norman of being short of confidence. He has been replaced as CEO of LIV Golf but, Norman being Norman, he has given himself a massive pat on the back, declaring that he has changed the face of our sport.

He believes that the likes of Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy owe him a huge debt of gratitude. He rightly says that PGA Tour prize money has increased as a result of LIV and points to the Player Impact Program as something that would never have happened without LIV. The PIP has turned out to be a personal benefit for Woods, "earning" him $40m over three years, during which he has barely hit a ball in anger. 

The PGA Tour has been forced to increase prize money in an effort to stop any further defections to LIV. You can make your own judgments about the rights and wrongs of that.

So what are we to make of Norman’s impact on the professional game? 

When McIlroy won the FedEx Cup in 2019 he did so with season’s earnings on the PGA Tour of $7.78m. When Scottie Scheffler finished top of the pile last year he did so with earnings of $29.28m. Admittedly, McIlroy "only" won three times in 2019 compared with Scheffler’s seven wins last year. But there is no doubt that in the LIV era, prize money on the PGA Tour has soared, with $20m prize funds up for grabs in the tour’s signature events, and $3m going to the winner.

There is also little doubt that the TGL simulator league fronted by Woods and McIlroy would never have seen the light of day had LIV not existed. Time alone will tell whether or not that is a good thing. It is fair to say that although TGL has generated some interest from a younger audience, the jury is still out. The early evidence is not encouraging, with TV audiences already taking a huge tumble.

Regardless, Norman is taking the credit.

He told Australian Golf Digest: "I would love Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy to recognise the fact that - like Tiger with his PIP money - that only came because of LIV, right? So Tiger benefitted from that. Rory’s definitely benefitted from that. I would love to sit down and talk to them about it, no question about it. Because I’m not a judgmental person and you only learn the facts and truth when you hear the other side of it.

"But, yes, would I like to sit down with them? Sure, absolutely. And you know what? I’d win the debate.

"When I look back on my past three-and-a-half years, from my past 20 years, oh my gosh, I really have changed the game of golf more than people realise."

I really have changed the game of golf? Oh Greg, no you haven’t. Your Saudi paymasters have done that.

Norman talks a lot about growing the game. If you follow golf closely you will know that as far back as the 1990s he was a prime mover in attempting to launch a world golf circuit. The closest we ever got to that was the establishment of a series of World Golf Championship (WGC) tournaments that boasted bumper prize funds. But let’s not kid ourselves that these events were ever about growing the game. At the time, Norman was in his prime and any world tour he had in mind was most certainly not aimed at anybody other than the sport’s best players. He was looking to feather his own nest.

If we are judging Norman purely and simply on the money that is now available within the game then yes, he does win the debate. But let’s not kid ourselves - this is nothing to do with Norman; it is all down to the Saudis coming forward with their bottomless cheque books.

And has he improved the game? 

There are those such as Jon Rahm, whose LIV contract is reputed to be worth around $400m, who will always be thankful for Norman and LIV. The likes of Phil Mickelson, Paul Casey, Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood will also thank him for being able to boost their retirement funds way beyond their wildest dreams. Poulter has just been posting videos on TikTok of his latest Ferrari. I thought it was a pretty classless thing to do but the responses clearly indicate that I am in the minority.

I believe that the sums being played for now on both LIV and the PGA Tour are verging on the obscene. How much money do these young men actually need?

I am all for bumper prize funds at the sport’s four majors. But $3m for the winner of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am? Really?

Personally, I am delighted to see the back of Norman. He has been a thoroughly divisive character and has upset a lot of decent people within the world of professional golf. He insists that he will remain involved with LIV in some way but I hope that his paymasters take him to one side and advise him to keep his thoughts to himself. 

It became increasingly clear that while Norman remained in his post as CEO the chances of a framework deal to bring a peace to the game remained remote. His replacement, Scott O’Neil, is an entirely different kettle of fish.