Tranlate this title Greg Norman admits he would rather see LIV Golf end than slowly disappear in spanish

Greg Norman was one of the main faces of LIV Golf from the very beginning, helping launch the league and defend it during some of the most difficult years in professional golf.

The Australian became LIV’s first CEO and commissioner before the circuit held its opening event in London in 2022. He helped recruit names such as Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, Patrick Reed and later Jon Rahm, while also becoming the person who answered most of the criticism coming from the PGA Tour side.

Norman rarely sounded worried about LIV’s future during those years. In early 2023, he said the league was «not going anywhere» and claimed LIV would be around for a long time. A few months later, after the framework agreement involving the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund was announced, he again told staff that LIV would remain a stand-alone business and said they had «changed history.»

Even when he officially left LIV in 2025, Norman described his time there with pride. He said the league had created a movement, brought new investment into golf and changed the game globally.

That makes his latest comments much more striking.

Norman admits he is gutted by LIV’s current situation

LIV has entered a very uncertain period after the PIF decided to stop future investment earlier this year. Its planned $40 million Team Championship in Michigan was cancelled and CEO Scott O’Neil has admitted that player commitment will be important as the league tries to complete a deal with new investors.

Norman, who spent years insisting the project would survive, now sounds far less confident.

Speaking to Skratch, the former world No. 1 said he is «sad, disappointed and gutted» by what has happened.

«I hate to see it wither away,» Norman said.

He then made an even more surprising admission.

«I would rather just see it end.»

Those words are very different from the message Norman was giving when he ran LIV. Back then, he spoke about growth, franchise value and a long future for the league. He once rated LIV’s first season 9.5 out of 10 and said the organization was building something golf had never seen before.

Norman has also admitted that working for LIV took a lot out of him. After leaving, he said he had worked 100-hour weeks and that the criticism affected him, especially when people judged the project without, in his view, understanding what LIV was trying to do.

«It was very draining on me,» he said in an earlier interview.

He also defended his work by saying: «Don’t judge what LIV was truly all about.»

Now, less than a year after formally leaving, Norman is watching the league he helped build face questions about funding, players and its entire direction.

Woods and McIlroy were among Norman’s biggest critics

Norman’s time at LIV was never short of conflict.

Rory McIlroy became one of his loudest critics in 2022 and made it clear that he thought Norman himself was part of the problem between LIV and the PGA Tour.

«I think Greg needs to go,» McIlroy said at the DP World Tour Championship.

The Northern Irishman added that Norman had already made his mark, but claimed negotiations would not properly move forward «unless there’s an adult in the room that can actually try to mend fences.»

Tiger Woods made a similar point only a couple of weeks later.

«I think Greg has to go, first of all,» Woods said at the Hero World Challenge.

Woods claimed the two sides could not properly coexist with Norman in charge because of what he saw as his «animosity towards the tour itself.»

«Not with their leadership, not with Greg there and his animosity towards the tour itself. I don’t see that happening,» Woods said.

Norman did not take those comments quietly. He later said he paid «zero attention» to Woods and McIlroy and insisted they had their own agenda.

«I believe in our business model. I believe in our people,» Norman said at the time.

He also insisted that he would remain with LIV for a «long, long period of time.»

That period eventually ended when Scott O’Neil replaced him as CEO in 2025, although Norman initially stayed involved before his contract expired later that year.

It seems that the controversial tour is close to collapse and that it will take a miracle for it to achieve any real success in the future. It is still unclear who will invest money in the project, while optimism among fans of the once Saudi-backed tour is fading. LIV officials, however, insist that they have serious plans and hope that the situation will improve significantly in the near future.