Rory McIlroy secured his 21st career PGA Tour win during June’s RBC Canadian Open, and he took the opportunity to take a shot at Greg Norman. Norman returned fire on McIlroy just over a month later.
McIlroy shot 19-under for the win, which moved him out of a four-way tie for 35th on the all-time Tour wins list. One of the golfers with whom he was tied with was Norman.
McIlroy appeared to point out that he had moved past Norman during his post-event interview with CBS’ Amanda Balionis.
Norman, the CEO of LIV Golf, issued a strong retort to McIlroy’s apparent shot in an Australian Golf Digest interview published on July 27.
“I take it as a compliment that he wanted to beat my 20 PGA Tour wins,” Norman said. “His next goal should be to win more than 91 tournaments globally or to maintain No.1 in the world for more than 331 weeks.”
Greg Norman in an Australian Golf Digest interview. pic.twitter.com/vCO9vkThtR
— Golf Digest (@GolfDigest) August 13, 2022
During his career, Norman had a total of 127 victories, including 57 in international competition. McIlroy has 30 career wins and eight international victories. His reign as the top golfer in the world lasted for 106 weeks compared to Norman’s 331, the second-most all-time behind Tiger Woods.
McIlroy has been outspoken in his support for the Tour, and equally as willing to attack those who have defected to the Saudi-backed league.
Despite any attacks, Norman has been successful in luring away big-time names from the Tour, including Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, and reportedly this year’s Open Championship winner.
