'LIV Has Never Been Stronger' - Norman Breaks Silence On PIF Deal And His Own Future

Greg Norman has spoken publicly for the first time since the huge PGA Tour-PIF deal, saying "the position of LIV has never been stronger" while insisting that he has "zero" concerns about his own future.

Ever since Jay Monahan and Yasir Al-Rumayyan appeared together on TV to announce their shock deal, rumours and reports have been flying around about exactly what happens next - especially the future of LIV Golf.

Nobody knows for sure, of course, as right now there's still just a "framework agreement" in place for the two sides to work out a full deal.

Norman was notable by his absence during all this back in June though, and he wasn't named in connection with any of the new positions in the new company being set up.

And with Monahan initially saying he'd have the final call over LIV Golf, naturally Norman's future became a topic of conversation.

However, after he finally spoke to reporters ahead of the LIV Golf finale in Miami, the Australian was typically in confident mood.

"All indications are showing that the position of LIV has never been stronger and that the success of our players and our brand has never been in a better place," Norman told journalists - as reported by SI's Bob Harig.

“And as we look forward into 2024, we’ve got a full schedule. We’ve got some places we’ve been to before, but we’ve got some new venues as well and we’re reaching different regions."

The 68-year-old says he has "zero, zero" worries about his own future, and rubbished reports that his job was under threat as part of the deal.

“I knew it wasn’t true," Norman said. "There is so much white noise out there. I pay zero attention to it."

Norman is remaining in the shadows and is not getting involved in talks over the deal, and he insists he wants the two parties to work something out - adding a lot of the battles could have been avoided had Monahan taken his call.

"I have my own personal points what that is, but I’m not involved with it," he said. "I don’t want to be involved with it. There’s smarter people involved with that than I am. 

"I just hope it does work. I really do. I’ve always been a believer of that. That’s why I wanted to speak to Jay Monahan a long time ago. I wanted to speak to him to explain the value of what our product is. And the value of what we can give back to everybody. 

"They chose not to. So I’ll leave it up to them to figure it out. I’m truly having a great time doing this. The journey’s been worth it."

The LIV Golf League is set for another 14-event schedule next year, and despite not knowing what the future will look like Norman says plans are still moving ahead - with plenty of interest from PGA Tour players.

"Our next couple of months are probably going to be my most exciting time," said Norman.

"We’re going through this relegation process, trade process, building out the teams, getting the teams to a position that each captain wants to, negotiations, all that. With each year that goes by, this is really going to get even more exciting for us.

"I’m definitely seeing a lot of FOMO out there. I know, personally I’m speaking to numerous players who want to come to LIV."

Norman hopes world tour dream comes true

Norman does hope though that his LIV Golf players can eventually return to play on the PGA Tour if they so wish - and that his dream was always to allow golfers to be able to really cash in on their talent and play anywhere they wanted around the world.

"That was our original premise to have guys share no different than what I had in 1993 with the world tour, right?" he said. 

"You could play 12 events and still go play on the PGA Tour, but over here you had a chance to make significant generational wealth over here. You could still play with the PGA Tour.

"Now remember guys, we had only one place to go, that was the PGA Tour, they told us where we could play and couldn't play. We had no chance in the hell of really expanding our generational wealth.

"Now the guys on the PGA Tour are going to see the benefits of that. You're seeing changes in the Tour since LIV. So we've become a leader in helping everybody understand how to commercialize the game of golf."