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LIV Golf wrapped up its third season of play when it held its team championship tournament in Dallas near the end of September, and it sounds like the league has decided it’s time to do some corporate reshuffling that will bring Greg Norman’s time as its CEO to an end.
Greg Norman ruffled plenty of feathers on the PGA Tour when he attempted to spearhead the launch of a rival league that would have been called the World Golf Tour in the mid-1990s, so it was only naturally he was the first notable name to be linked with what eventually became LIV Golf.
The man known as “The Shark” has served as the CEO of the Saudi-backed circuit since 2021, and he’s played an instrumental role in the dramatic saga that’s seen the PGA Tour hemorrhage a ton of notable names to a league that still hasn’t come close to attracting the amount of attention you’d expect based on the billions of dollars that have been poured into it.
Norman’s time as CEO has seen him embroiled in a bitter feud with Rory McIlroy, lead discussions with broadcasters that eventually resulted in a fairly lackluster deal with The CW, and try (and ultimately fail) to get the Official World Golf Rankings to classify LIV Golf events as “Eligible Tournaments.”
I’d argue Norman hasn’t done enough to justify his reported $50 million salary over the past few years based on LIV’s inability to generate consistent buzz and interest, and it would appear the powers that be have also come to a similar conclusion.
According to Sports Business Journal, the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Firm retained the services of a London-based executive recruitment company to helm a search for a new CEO earlier this year—a development the outlet says led to talks with Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark that ultimately fizzled out.
It doesn’t appear there’s any firm timeline when it comes to that changing of the guard, and SBJ notes Norman is expected to remain with LIV Golf in some capacity even though he’ll no longer be its head honcho.
This news comes around a month after representatives for the PGA Tour met with a delegation from the PIF in New York City to discuss the merger that was initially announced in the summer of 2023 but has still failed to come to fruition more than a year later, so this will be a very interesting situation to keep an eye on.