Rory McIlroy unexpectedly sung the praises of outgoing LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman after it was confirmed that Australian was being moved on after three turbulent years in the role.
Norman will now take an upstairs role at the Saudi backed tour with Scott O’Neil replacing the multiple major winner at the helm of LIV.
O’Neil arrives as a much respected sports and entertainment executive who was most recently in charge of Legoland and Alton Towers.
Norman’s (69) contract expires in August which will bring the curtain down on his tumultuous reign much of which was spent trading verbal jibes with McIlroy, but that appears to have also been brought to an end with McIlroy commending his rival for the job he did.
Not the peace deal the golfing world needs, but maybe it is a step in the right direction.
“Greg obviously took a lot of flack in LIV’s first couple of years,” McIlroy told reporters at the Dubai Desert Classic. “He’s probably one of the only people in golf that could have taken on that role. So he got it off the ground and you’ve got to commend him for that. Now it’s time for someone with a bit more experience in this to take over.”
Norman played a vital role in the formation of the breakaway tour which has fractured the landscape of professional golf and the former world number one was a chief instigator with his confrontation swiped at the PGA Tour and DP World Tour as well as the four men’s major championships.
Norman previously sounded out the notion of a breakaway world tour in the 1990s during his playing career so his reign at LIV Golf was never going to be plain sailing.
Tasked with getting the breakaway tour off the ground, he manufactured the big money signings of Dustin Johnson, Lee Westwood and Cameron Smith while the likes of Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm have followed in the intervening years.
Now that Norman is stepping aside from his role, McIlroy has urged the PGA Tour to strike a deal with PIF but doesn’t believe that incoming CEO O’Neil will be eager for the Saudis to sacrifice their own tour despite the fact they have made no big money signings in the off-season.
McIlroy’s Holywood clubmate Tom McKibbin (22) is the subject of a three-year contract offer worth a reported €8 million.
“I honestly don’t know what the future holds for them, but the moves that they’re making, especially from an executive standpoint, it doesn’t look like they’re going to go away anytime soon,” McIlroy said. “Scott’s got an amazing track record and has the right credentials to take over a sports league. So, yeah, I think for LIV it’s probably a good move now that they’re established.”
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