If every tweet were a person screaming on your ear drums (aren’t they sometimes?) you wouldn’t be able to hear anything other than the name Greg Norman today. A bombshell report claimed LIV Golf is planning to replace the Aussie at the helm. The former world no.1 has been the PIF-funded side’s head honcho since its inception three years ago. Is this the end of the Norman era? Was it necessary for the merger? Well, it’s a bit of both. And something more, too.

Why a Greg Norman replacement is suddenly a necessity? 

It’s no secret that the PGA Tour top-brass saw Greg Norman as a hostile force. The court documents released by the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations revealed they wanted to clip Norman’s wings. That prompted the Great White Shark to dub all that as ‘white noise.’That was last October.

Moreover, both Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy have called for Norman’s ouster for the merger talks to progress. Even though McIlroy softened up on LIV, he said some decision-makers at the breakaway side are doing a ‘disservice’ to Yasir Al-Rumayyan’s vision. That dagger had an obvious target.

The wound cuts deep, and Norman, for his part, has burned a few bridges himself. His antics were not well-received by fans either. From appearing at the Masters without an official invitation to making claims of reaching a million households without any data to back that up, Norman’s credibility has suffered in the last few years.

Per Greg Norman, LIV golf has brought golf to a younger audience, thereby bringing down the average audience base to below 45 from 67. Put another way, the PIF-funded side hasn’t been able to draw in the older demographics, which still constitute a chunk of golf’s major audience base. 

The former Open champion hinted at ‘enormous’ interest from TV broadcasters in 2022. He hailed the CW partnership as ‘momentous’. Two years later, a Pro Pickleball tournament received 295,000 viewers vis-à-vis LIV’s 136,000.

So, Norman stepping down from his role will serve a dual purpose. Firstly, it pacifies some disgruntled and loud voices inside the PGA Tour. Secondly, it leaves that chair for someone more experienced and respected. Which is why it’s necessary to not lose sight of the bigger picture.

The decision would fit perfectly into the grander scheme of things 

Per the Sports Business Journal report, Brett Yormark, the Big 12 Commissioner, was on PIF’s radar. Yormark has reportedly rejected the offer. The call lasted a little over a minute, apparently. But think of the experience and business acumen someone like a Yormark can bring to the table. 

Similar to the PGA Tour Enterprises that comprises the bigwigs of the sports industry, PIF wants to shrug off the ‘not serious’ tag by roping in established names. Recently, Ilana Finley has joined LIV’s communication team. She was the former  VP/Global Communications & Social Impact at Converse, before working for 18 years at Nike.

Before that, David Phillipps joined as LIV’s CFO from Equinox Group, Ross Hallett joined as head of Events. Hallet previously was with IMG where he handled golf events across Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. Katie O’Reilly joined as LIV Golf’s Chief of Business Operations. O’Reilly was the Chief Revenue Officer of the Philadelphia 76ers. 

More C-suite-level positions are opening up on LIV Golf. Currently, it’s PIF chief, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, who is representing the LIV Golf side in the negotiations. The June 6 agreement was between PIF, DP World Tour, and PGA Tour. 

But it’s not too much to expect that LIV Golf’s CEO or other executives would be somewhat involved in the future as well. Currently, with Norman at the helm, that was seemingly impossible. Quite naturally, having someone at the helm who commands more authority seems to be a logical next step.

Does that mean Greg Norman is a spent force?

Well, unlikely. Norman is known to have a good rapport with players. The 20-time PGA Tour winner is far more frequent in press conferences than his PGA Tour counterpart. Most importantly, Norman has also enjoyed support from PIF top brass. 

So, the 69-year-old Aussie is likely to move into an advisory role. All in all, the Great White Shark’s public appearance is likely to be reduced. And the need for it too. It’s unclear which role will be carved out for the current CEO. 

But because Norman was the first to talk of a global league with top players and LIV realizing that vision, it looks unlikely that Shark‘s head would be on the chopping board. PIF is still in the process of an image makeover. Firing the current CEO doesn’t fit well into that plan.

Norman might handle the new recruits or create pathways for upcoming stars. Or, it might be more of an ambassadorial role for attracting potential investors. When all that is said and done, PIF looking for a new CEO hints at another factor. LIV Golf is going through a massive overhaul and ‘standardizing’ a renegade product for mass appeal. As LIV Golf moves forward, perhaps some of the unorthodox elements will be finetuned, if not entirely scrapped. Regardless, it’s still premature to say that Greg Norman’s days are over. Not yet.