'We've All Made Mistakes' - Greg Norman Responds To Saudi Questioning

Greg Norman and his LIV Golf Invitational Series faced intense questioning during a media day at next month's inaugural venue, the Centurion Club, near London where the Australian was asked about the idea of 'sportswashing' and the controversial murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

"Everybody has owned up to it, right? It has been spoken about, from what I've read, going on what you guys reported. Take ownership, no matter what it is," Norman responded. "Look, we've all made mistakes and you just want to learn from those mistakes and how you can correct them going forward."

Norman was then asked about 81 Saudi Arabian citizens being executed in a single day in March. “I got a lot of messages, but quite honestly I look forward, I don’t look back," he said. "I don’t look into the politics of things. I know the mission I have as CEO of LIV Golf and that’s how we can grow the game globally. I’m not going to get into the quagmire of whatever happens in someone else’s world. I heard about it and I just kept moving on."

"This whole thing about Saudi Arabia and Khashoggi and human rights, talk about it, but also talk about the good the country is doing to change its culture. There are not many countries that can stand up and be proud of that. They can't be proud of their past - there are a lot of countries in this world that have a cross to bear too - but they are looking after the younger generation."

“I’m not going down this road guys," Norman then said after further questioning. "Let’s just stay focused on the golf. That’s all I’m going to do."

He previously said "I do not answer to Saudi Arabia. I do not answer to MBS [Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman]," in an interview with Sky Sports, where he said Saudi Arabia is "changing their culture within their country."

The LIV Golf Invitational Series gets underway next month at the Centurion Club where a 48-man field will play for a huge purse of $25m. The LIV Golf Invitational Series schedule will see eight tournaments with a season-ending Team Championship taking place at Trump National Doral in Miami, Florida.

As it stands, the field for the first event is still unknown and doubts have been cast over the high profile names rumoured to be playing after both the PGA and DP World Tours declined release requests from its players to feature in the event. Big names linked with the series so far include the likes of Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia and Lee Westwood, with dozens of PGA and DP World Tour players said to have made release requests.