Former Open Champion Backs McIlroy’s Greg Norman Claim

Former Open Champion, Ian Baker-Finch, has found his name circulating around the internet once again after agreeing with Rory McIlroy that LIV’s Greg Norman needs to depart in order for the game of golf to find peace.

Baker-Finch was also in the press last week, after he came out and explained that he tried to persuade Cameron Smith to stay with the PGA Tour. This time however, the 62 year-old has backed one of the PGA Tour’s biggest advocates.

McIlroy is hopeful that all established Tours can have a solid working relationship with LIV Golf, but has said this won’t be possible until both lawsuits are finalised and Greg Norman leaves his post.

"I think Greg needs to go. I think he just needs to exit stage left," McIlroy said at the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai. "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, but right now, it's a stalemate because there can't be any other way."

McIlroy’s remarks could have been instigated by Norman’s recent interview in Australia, where he also announced that LIV would be playing in Adelaide next year. The Aussie didn't stop there though.

"Every PGA Tour player should be thanking LIV, including Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, because the PIP program wouldn't have been increased without LIV," Norman said.

"Prize money wouldn't have been increased without LIV, all these other things that have been introduced by the PGA Tour are because of LIV. Competition is the best thing in life, in business and in sport. LIV is not going to go anywhere."

In the midst of McIIroy’s and Norman’s feud, it was Ian Baker-Finch who showed support for the Irishman and agreed that both Tours can co-exist once Norman’s “combative” leadership has been extinguished.

"I think it will be difficult (to find a compromise with Norman in charge)," Baker-Finch told Summer Grandstand. "I think there's a way we can all live in harmony, without being so combative. Perhaps that is changing the leader to make that a possibility.

"Greg is always going to have a great, iconic heritage here in Australia. For 10 years he was golf here in Australia, he will always have a place in the history of Australian golf, but I don't know whether this is doing his legacy any favours. I kind of understand where Rory is coming from."

Baker-Finch is still convinced that the PGA Tour is the only place for the best golfers and that LIV’s format is not “golf as we know it”. He has also questioned whether the breakaway circuit is giving back to golf.

“Maybe in his mind (Norman) is shaking up the game of golf by offering a different product, I can't say it's good for the game though. I don't think it's golf the way we know it, and I don't think it's giving back to golf.

"It's not a pre-eminent Tour. It's not golf as we know it, with four rounds and a cut. How do I compare against Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus or Greg Norman or Rodger Davis? That's what the PGA Tour and all the other Tours are offering their players.

"A lot of the players who have gone the other way are still competing, but they've taken the money over the legacy. I just see a bunch of guys who already have a lot of money playing for a lot more money. I don't see that being good for golf necessarily."