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Greg Norman’s new golf league was ready to launch the identical week in February that Phil Mickelson‘s controversial feedback concerning the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia had been revealed, which brought on many dedicated gamers to again out.
On the time, Norman advised ESPN on Monday, a minimum of 30% of the highest 50 gamers on the earth had dedicated to play within the new league.
“There is no query [Mickelson’s comments] damage,” stated Norman, a two-time winner of The Open and CEO of LIV Golf Investments. “It damage quite a lot of points. It damage the PGA Tour. It damage us. It damage the sport of golf. It damage Phil. So yeah, throughout all fronts. It wasn’t simply particularly to us. But it surely positively created detrimental momentum in opposition to us.”
Norman stated the proposed league, which was being financed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Funding Fund, was ready to launch its 14-event schedule and roster of dedicated gamers through the week of the Genesis Invitational, Feb. 17-20. However writer Alan Shipnuck revealed an interview associated to his upcoming unauthorized biography of Mickelson on the web site FirePitCollective.com on Feb. 15.
Within the interview, which Shipnuck stated came about in November, Mickelson known as the Saudi Arabians “scary motherf—ers” and stated he was solely prepared to become involved with the brand new league to have leverage with the PGA Tour.
“… They killed [Washington Post reporter and U.S. resident Jamal] Khashoggi and have a horrible report on human rights,” Mickelson stated within the interview. “They execute individuals over there for being homosexual. Realizing all of this, why would I even contemplate it? As a result of it is a once-in-a-lifetime alternative to reshape how the PGA Tour operates.”
Mickelson was closely criticized for the feedback, and a number of other PGA Tour stars, together with Jon Rahm, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau and others, pledged their loyalty to the tour within the subsequent few days.
“Fairly truthfully, we had been able to launch on the Tuesday or Wednesday of Genesis,” Norman stated. “We had sufficient gamers in our power of discipline, or minimal viable product, prepared to come back on board. And when all of that occurred, all people bought the jitters, and the PGA Tour threatened individuals with lifetime bans and stuff like that.”
Norman stated a handful of the gamers who had beforehand signed with LIV Golf have remained dedicated to play within the collection, which now contains eight occasions — together with 5 within the U.S.
Complete prize cash for the eight occasions can be $255 million, in keeping with LIV Golf Investments, and the seven regular-season tournaments can have whole purses of $25 million, which might be the richest in skilled golf, with $20 million in particular person prizes and $5 million for the highest three groups.
The highest three people after the seven regular-season occasions can even share a $30 million bonus.
The season-ending crew match-play championship, scheduled for Oct. 27-30 at Trump Nationwide Doral in Miami, will present one other $50 million in prizes.
“To this present day, we nonetheless have gamers underneath contract and signed,” Norman stated. “Those who needed to get out due to the stress of the PGA Tour gave again their cash and bought out. Guys had cash of their pockets.”
Mickelson, a six-time main champion, hasn’t performed in a tour occasion in additional than three months. Final month, he skipped the Masters, which he has received 3 times, for the primary time since 1994.
Mickelson’s agent, Steve Loy, introduced final week that he has registered to play on this month’s PGA Championship, an occasion he received final yr, and the U.S. Open in June. Loy stated that Mickelson had additionally requested a launch from the PGA Tour to play within the first LIV Golf Invitational Sequence occasion in London in June.
Loy stated Mickelson hasn’t but determined whether or not he’ll play in any of these occasions.
Regardless of Mickelson’s feedback, Norman stated he can be welcome at any LIV event.
“He is all the time going to have an open door,” Norman stated. “It will be his choice, his choice solely. He is bought a couple of issues he has to work out himself, clearly, with the PGA Tour and the place he desires to go together with them and the way he desires to go together with them. I can not learn Phil’s thoughts as a result of I have not spoken with him. From our perspective, I am all the time going to be constant in that I respect Phil. I respect what he is achieved for the sport of golf, and he is all the time going to have an open door to any golf event he desires to go play so far as I am involved.”
Norman stated LIV Golf has acquired greater than 200 registration requests for its first event — June 9/11 at Centurion Golf Membership in London — which can embrace 48 gamers competing on 12 four-man groups. He stated the listing of gamers who’ve registered contains about 15 of the highest 100 gamers within the Official World Golf Rating and two gamers who had been beforehand ranked No. 1.
“I have been very pleasantly stunned,” Norman stated. “What has been talked about within the media and what’s actuality are two various things. We all know what’s taking place with quite a lot of curiosity expressed. From an expectation standpoint, we have got quite a lot of curiosity from considerably named gamers. Our mission is to be affected person, and we will ship these occasions and it is as much as the gamers to make their choice on what they wish to do as unbiased contractors.”
As a result of the LIV Golf Invitational in London conflicts with the RBC Canadian Open, PGA Tour gamers should be granted a launch from the tour to play within the different event. Norman stated a number of gamers from the DP World Tour, previously the European Tour, have additionally registered for the LIV Invitational.
“The European tour is beginning to pound their chest a little bit bit with the gamers,” Norman stated. “What I am listening to from the gamers is that [the DP World Tour] is saying there are going to be critical penalties in the event you go play with out a launch, and in the event you do put in for a launch, you are not going to get one. That is logical rhetoric coming from the European tour. However the pure reality is that they’re now companions with the PGA Tour, so they have to sing the identical tune that the PGA Tour was singing.”
PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan advised gamers after the PGA Championship in Might 2021 that anybody who joined the Saudi-financed league can be suspended and probably face a lifetime ban from the PGA Tour.
“I can solely communicate on info given to me by our authorized crew, and I’ve an especially proficient authorized crew in antitrust and anti-competitive legal guidelines, and we consider we’re in the best place,” Norman stated. “We consider the gamers are unbiased contractors and have a proper to go play wherever they wish to go play.”
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