Greg Norman responds to the Rory McIlroy LIV Golf rumors
Jul 1, 2022; Portland, Oregon, USA; Greg Norman, CEO and commissioner of LIV Golf, looks on during the second round of the LIV Golf tournament at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports
Rory McIlroy recently denied that he received a massive offer from LIV Golf, and now Greg Norman has also addressed the rumors.
City A.M., a London-focused business and financial outlet, reported last week that McIlroy is close to joining LIV Golf. The report said that McIlroy is being offered $850 million and two percent equity in LIV Golf to join the PGA Tour competitor.
Before the RBC Heritage in Hilton Head, S.C., McIlroy told reporters he has never received an offer from LIV and has no idea where the rumor came from. Norman, who is one of LIV’s top executives, told reporters the same on Tuesday. But if McIlroy wanted to talk, Norman says LIV would be all ears.
“LIV never put an offer to him. … This is just typical white noise that gets out there in the industry. If Rory was willing to sit down and have a conversation with us, would we be happy to sit down with him? 100 percent, no different than any other player who would be interested in coming on and playing with us,” Norman said.
Greg Norman says LIV have never put an offer to Rory McIlroy, despite the report of him potentially joining the league for $850 million:
“Look, I'll make the comment if you look back over that time period of that dialogue that was going, there there wasn't one comment about LIV.… pic.twitter.com/PtMXPLmA3s
— Flushing It (@flushingitgolf) April 24, 2024
Norman also claimed he recently sat down with a “top, top PGA Tour player” and that the golfer was extremely impressed with what LIV has to offer. The unnamed player decided to remain on the PGA Tour despite admitting what he previously thought about LIV was not accurate.
McIlroy was the most vocal critic of LIV Golf when the new league was poaching players from the PGA Tour. He was then left in an awkward position when the PGA Tour and LIV announced a merger, though that deal has not yet been finalized. McIlroy has since resigned from a prominent position with the PGA Tour, but there has been no indication that he has considered leaving.
If you use the reported contract that Jon Rahm signed with LIV last year as a benchmark, it would not be impossible to believe that LIV would offer McIlroy even more. That just has not happened.