'Greg Needs to Go': Rory McIlroy Says LIV Golf CEO Must Quit for Peace to Be Possible
Rory McIlroy said Greg Norman must quit his duties as commissioner of LIV Golf in order for peace talks to commence among the leaders in the game.
Speaking to reporters Tuesday in Dubai ahead of this week’s DP World Tour Championship, McIlroy said “no one is going to talk unless there’s an adult in the room," and also acknowledged two pending court cases need to be resolved for there to be progress.
Norman is the CEO and commissioner of the LIV Golf League, which attracted several star players with the guaranteed advances and big-money purses to an eight-tournament series this year. The league launches in 2023 with 14 events.
“Greg needs to go; he needs to exit stage left,’’ said McIlroy, 33, the No. 1-ranked player in the world and a consistent critic of LIV Golf. “He’s made his mark but I think now is the right time to say you’ve got this thing off the ground but no one’s going to talk unless there’s an adult in the room that can actually try to mend fences."
LIV Golf last week denied a report that said the organization was in discussion to bring on another executive to replace Norman in his CEO role.
The two-time major champion and member of the World Golf Hall of Fame has criticized the PGA Tour for not taking a meeting with his group to try and work together. PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan has held firm in saying that there can be no dialogue, especially with a lawsuit pending.
“I think the ball is in their court now," Norman said during a conference call with reporters two weeks ago. “We have tried on many angles, many fronts. It’s very disappointing, this vitriol, this ill-will. I can tell you with my and on my heart, all of the PGA Tour players and DP World Tour players who played with LIV ... they want to (be able to) go back and play on the PGA Tour. Some of them are now saying no. But in the beginning they all wanted to go back.
“The PGA Tour has created this angst. We did not create the angst. Why does competition create heartburn? Why the vitriol?"
Going back to his playing days, Norman has long been critical of the PGA Tour for not allowing more freedom among players. Players who have participated in LIV Golf have been suspended by the PGA Tour.
LIV Golf and several players have sued the PGA Tour for antitrust violations; LIV players are also in litigation with the DP World Tour, which is allowing members to compete in its events until a court rules on the matter in February.
McIlroy has been strong in his words about LIV Golf but has also on several occasions called for some sort of discussion to resolve the controversy that envelops the game.
“Right now it is a bit of a stalemate,’’ McIlroy said, referencing the litigation.
McIlroy, along with Tiger Woods, was behind a hasty effort in August that prompted the PGA Tour to announce a new series of “designated events" in 2023 that will see increased prize funds and require the top players to compete in nearly all of those events in order to qualify for a season-ending Player Impact Program bonus pool that is offering $100 million.
That was in response to LIV offering massive payouts with the expectation that a few more players will make the jump before the start of LIV’s 2023 season, which will begin in February. LIV Golf is financed by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia.
Norman has said that PGA Tour players, including McIlroy and Woods, should be thankful for what the new endeavor has meant to the game.
“I’ve said this a million times: Tiger is the reason that we are playing for as much as we are playing for," McIlroy said. “Tiger is the reason that the stature of our game is where it is. The generation of Tiger and the generation coming after Tiger have all benefited from him and his achievements and what he’s done for the game of golf.
“I don’t think Tiger should be thankful to anyone for anything. I think everyone else in the game should be thankful."
McIlroy leads the season-long DP World Tour’s Race to Dubai standings and could join Henrik Stenson (2013) as the only players to capture the FedEx Cup and the former European Tour’s top prize in the same year.