Greg Norman, the former controversial chief executive of LIV Golf, has admitted feeling sad over the decline of the breakaway series, stating he “would rather see it end”.
After investing more than $5 billion (£3.6 bn) over five years, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund has withdrawn its financial backing. Although an agreement has been reached with a private equity firm, players are encountering a scaled-back schedule and significantly smaller purses.
Having been replaced as CEO in 2025, Norman sees no long-term future for the venture he championed so aggressively throughout his full tenure in charge.
“I’m sad, disappointed, gutted to be honest,” he said in an interview with Skratch.
“I hate to see it wither away. I would rather just see it end.”
Norman’s brutally honest verdict on the demise of LIV Golf comes just days after current CEO Scott O’Neil acknowledged that the league faces “a very compressed timeline” to finalise a deal with a new lead investor, and any agreement will depend on securing support from a majority of the existing player roster.
Following a lengthy opening statement where he maintained LIV wanted to “move forward” and “complete, not compete” within the wider sport, O’Neil addressed questions regarding recent league developments, including reports of a new lead investor to fund operations between 2027 and 2030.
“We have a very compressed timeline to get the deal done,” O’Neil said. “I’m not going to share that here. But I can tell you we’re well on our way to a transaction. Very excited about the future.”
Ted Goldthorpe, head of the investment group BC Partners, is reportedly the prospective lead investor who has agreed a term sheet with LIV. However, that prospective financing remains conditional on how many top players agree to stay with the league for 2027 and beyond, a detail O’Neil largely confirmed on Wednesday.
“Look, the entirety of our focus is to get to this transaction and get through it,” O’Neil said. “Without the players, that becomes very difficult. I have a good level of confidence in my conversation that we’ll have a critical mass of the right players to move this league forward.”
