Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods have clear Greg Norman feelings as LIV Golf eye replacement

Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods have made no secret of their dissatisfaction with outgoing LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman. Norman, who has led the controversial breakaway tour since its inception in 2022, is reportedly set to be replaced by the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund (PIF), which financially backs LIV. The two-time major winner, 69, will step aside from his current role, though he is expected to stay with the company in a different capacity once a new CEO is appointed.

Since LIV Golf’s launch, Norman has been a divisive figure, particularly among PGA Tour loyalists like McIlroy and Woods. The creation of LIV triggered a deep schism in the golfing world, one that still lingers despite ongoing discussions of a potential merger. Norman’s leadership has often been at the center of this conflict.

McIlroy has been particularly vocal in his criticism of Norman, once calling for the Australian to “exit stage left.” At the height of tensions between the PGA Tour and LIV, McIlroy made it clear that he believed Norman’s time in charge had come to an end. “He’s made his mark, but I think now is the right time to sort of say, ‘Look, you’ve got this thing off the ground, but no one is going to talk unless there’s an adult in the room that can actually try to mend fences,’” McIlroy said.

In recent months, McIlroy’s stance towards LIV has softened, but his disapproval of Norman has remained steadfast. Speaking earlier this year, as negotiations between the PGA Tour’s player-directors and PIF chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan began to unfold, McIlroy suggested that Norman and his colleagues had misrepresented the interests of the Saudi fund. “I think I’ve said this before,” McIlroy stated. “I have spent time with Yasir, and the people that have represented him in LIV I think have done him a disservice… Norman and those guys.”

McIlroy added that there appeared to be a significant “disconnect” between PIF and LIV, suggesting that the two entities were operating on different wavelengths. He expressed hope that closer cooperation with Al-Rumayyan and the PIF could help bring clarity and stability to the situation. “The closer we can get to Yasir, PIF, and hopefully finalize that investment, I think that will be a really good thing,” McIlroy concluded.

Tiger Woods, a staunch critic of LIV, echoed McIlroy’s call for Norman’s departure. Woods pointed to Norman’s leadership as a major barrier to any possibility of reconciliation between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf. In the midst of legal battles between the two tours, Woods expressed skepticism about whether a resolution could be reached while Norman was still at the helm. “Not right now, not with their leadership, not with Greg there and his animosity towards the Tour itself,” Woods said when asked if LIV could coexist with the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour. “As Rory said, I think Greg’s got to leave, and then we can eventually, hopefully, have a stay between the two lawsuits and figure something out.”

Woods highlighted the ongoing litigation between the two organizations as a key obstacle to progress. “They sued us first,” Woods noted. “I see that there’s an opportunity out there if both organizations put a stay on their litigation, but that’s the problem—they’ve got to put a stay on it. I think it has to start with leadership on their side.”

Woods’ animosity towards Norman predates the emergence of LIV Golf. The two have clashed in the past, most notably when Norman publicly questioned Woods’ ability to make the U.S. Presidents Cup team in 2011. Their relationship took another hit in 2019, after Woods’ remarkable victory at the Masters. Norman claimed he had sent a handwritten note to congratulate Woods, but the gesture went unacknowledged.

“When Tiger won the Masters this year, I wrote him a handwritten note and drove down my road, maybe a quarter of a mile, and hand-delivered it to his guard at his gate,” Norman recounted in an interview with Men’s Health. “I said [to the guard], ‘Hey, this is Greg Norman here. I’ve got a note for Tiger—can you please hand-deliver it to him?’ Well, I never heard a word back from the guy.”

Norman compared Woods’ reaction to his own experience after winning his first major, recalling how golf legend Jack Nicklaus was quick to personally congratulate him. “When I won my first major championship, Jack Nicklaus was the first person to walk down out of the TV tower and congratulate me,” Norman said. “I don’t know, maybe Tiger just dislikes me.”

As Norman prepares to step aside from his role as LIV Golf’s CEO, it remains to be seen how his departure will affect the ongoing negotiations between LIV, the PGA Tour, and the DP World Tour. Both McIlroy and Woods believe that his exit could pave the way for more productive discussions and, potentially, an end to the legal battles that have embroiled the golfing world since LIV’s controversial launch.