Norman tells OWGR board members to "grow up"
Greg Norman, CEO and commissioner of LIV Golf, speaks during a welcome party prior to the LIV Golf Invitational - Bangkok at Capella Bangkok on October 05, 2022 in Bangkok, Thailand. (Photo by Joe Scarnici/LIV Golf/Getty Images)
LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman launched another not so subtle attack on golf’s status quo when he told members of the Official World Golf Ranking board to “grow up” and overcome their hatred of the Saudi-backed breakaway league.
Speaking to India’s World Is One News during last week’s LIV Golf Invitational Bangkok, the Australian was asked if the decision by the OWGR not to grant world ranking points to their event in Thailand or this week’s season ending LIV Golf Invitational Jeddah was “a setback”.
“No, it’s not a setback,” said Norman, who has called on board members such as PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, DP World Tour CEO Keith Pelley and R&A CEO Martin Slumbers to recuse themselves when it comes to a vote on awarding LIV Golf events OWGR points. “It’s a setback for them. There are 22 tours out there, I believe, that have world ranking points.
"There is only one that is equal or a little bit superior to what LIV is. So it doesn’t make sense from a Majors perspective, it doesn’t make sense from a broadcaster’s perspective. You are paying an investing for your strength of field and not allowing LIV players to get OWGR points is not doing the game of golf any good.
“Rise above it all, it's good for the players, it’s good for the game of golf, it's good for production, it’s good for corporations, it’s good for OEMs, it’s good for fans, it’s good for everybody.
“Just because you have a negative viewpoint and you’re one of the voting members of an independent organisation, that you hate LIV and you’re going to vote against it...grow up.”
It’s not the first time Norman’s attempts to comment on the world rankings or the Majors have been couched in less than diplomatic language.
"I spoke to (Augusta National chairman) Fred Ridley,” Norman told Golf Monthly in July. “They’ve weighed in pretty hard against LIV. The majors should stay Switzerland, they have a responsibility for one event, not a league. But it also tells you is there a cabal there? This is the slippery slope you go down about what LIV is starting to expose."
Whatever about calling the Chairman of the Masters a member of a “cabal”, telling the OWGR to “grow up” is a new take on his previously warm comments on the organisation’s Chairman, Peter Dawson.
Norman flew to Scotland to meet Dawson and plead LIV’s case this summer and said the former R&A CEO was “extremely intelligent and understanding about growing the game of golf”.
