Norman: “Rory and Tiger have no idea what they're talking about”
Greg Norman
Greg Norman insists he won't get into a "childish” back and forth with Rory McIlroy over calls for him to stand down as CEO of LIV Golf and says the door is still open for the Holywood star to jump to the Saudi-backed league.
McIlroy and Tiger Woods insist Woods must "go" as LIV boss if there's to be any chance of a ceasefire in golf's raging civil war.
"There's a few things that I would like to see on the LIV side that needs to happen," McIlroy said ahead of the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai. "I think Greg needs to go. I think he just needs to exit stage left.
"He's made his mark, but I think now is the right time to sort of say, 'Look, you've got this thing off the ground, but no one is going to talk unless there's an adult in the room that can actually try to mend fences.'"
Speaking to bunkered magazine, Norman suggested he would not close the door to LIV for McIlroy or other big names such as Jordan Spieth or Justin Thomas but he would not engage in a war of words with the world number one.
"Our door is open for everybody," Norman said. "We're not the PGA Tour. We're not like that. We exist for the players, so we will always have an open door, whether that's for Rory or Jordan Spieth or Justin Thomas or whoever.
"I mean, we talked to JT. Me and another member of my team, we sat down with him and gave him the full presentation and, if you notice, he's not said much negative about what we're doing, presumably because he knows it and understands it."
As for McIlroy and more recently Woods calling for him to step down as CEO of LIV Golf, Norman added: "Rory and Tiger have no idea what they're talking about. None whatsoever.
"I have got the full support from my chairman. One hundred per cent. One thousand per cent. There has never been one thing to suggest otherwise.
"But I know what they're trying to do. They're trying to bait me to draw me into a public back and forth with them and I'm not going to go down that childish path.
"I'm totally confident, totally proud and totally committed to this job and that is building out LIV Golf in perpetuity and giving players and fans another kind of golf to enjoy. And what you're already seeing is that LIV is a leader. The PGA Tour and DP World Tour, they're followers.
"LIV has already brought more value to the game by making reserve money, that had been sitting to one side, and finally getting it put into play. If it wasn't for LIV, the PGA Tour would not have done what they've done. They've basically copied our homework.”
McIlroy had reached out to Norman over a documentary about his painful Masters loss to Nick Faldo but their relationship broke down after the Australian described him as "brainwashed" by the PGA Tour in his opposition to LIV Golf.
Speaking to Paul Kimmage in the Sunday Independent, McIlroy said: "Yeah, he was great. So I said to him, 'Watching it reminded me of how you reached out to me in 2011, and I just want to say that I'll always appreciate it. It meant a lot. I know our opinion on the game of golf right now is very different, but I just wanted you to know that and wish you all the best.'
"So, a bit of an olive branch, and he came back to me straightaway: 'I really think golf can be a force for good around the world ... Great to see you playing so well ... I know our opinions are not aligned but I'm just trying to create more opportunities for every golfer around the world.'
"Fine. Really nice. Then, a couple of weeks later, he does an interview with The Washington Post and says I've been "brainwashed by the PGA Tour.' I'm like 'For f**k sake!' We've had this really nice back-and-forth and he says that about me.
"I thought, 'You know what? I'm going to make it my business now to be as much of a pain in his arse as possible.'"
