LONDON (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf investments has secured additional funding with $2 billion backing up its plans to become a full breakaway super league from 2024, Australian frontman Greg Norman said on Tuesday.
The new invitational series, which is offering significantly enhanced prize funds, is threatening to upend golf’s established order by creating a schism between senior players and the major tours.
“We’ve just got approval to launch our schedule into 2023, ’24 and ’25. We’ve got $2 billion to back that up so we have additional funds in place,” Norman told the BBC.
“And just because we are talking about ’23, ’24 and ’25, we’re looking way beyond that too. We are looking at decades.”
The 67-year-old former world number one, a two times British Open winner, said 19 of the world’s top 100 players and five of the top 50 were committed to the inaugural invitational tournament at Centurion Club near London on June 9-11.
England’s Lee Westwood and British Masters champion Richard Bland have already requested a release from the PGA Tour and DP World Tour.
Six time major champion Phil Mickelson asked the PGA Tour for a release last month and Norman said he would be welcome.
Norman said the PGA and DP World Tours had thrown some obstacles in his way but “we have pivoted brilliantly.
“We have pivoted to the fact that we’ve done invitationals and these will be our start ups.
“We will start with eight this year and then we’ll do 10 next year and 2024 and ’25 and beyond it’s the full league, 14 events off and running.”
He said several top players had said they would play without a release.
“We’re not looking for a legal fight. It’s how you interpret those rules, those by-laws. The PGA Tour interprets it one way, we interpret it another way. That’s when lawyers get involved,” said the entrepreneur.
“Remember, no tour in this world owns golf. There’s been a monopoly in place for 53 years.”
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Toby Davis)
