Daily Times

ADELAIDE: LIV Golf is considering creating a women’s circuit and has approached American and European players, says chief executive Greg Norman. The Saudi Arabia-backed LIV men’s tour began in 2022 with the first event held in June near London. High-profile players, such as 2020 US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau, left the PGA Tour to join LIV. “[A women’s tour] is a discussion we have internally on a regular basis,” Norman said. “I have personally had discussions with individual LPGA Tour players, LET Tour players, Ladies European Tour. They love what our product is showcasing. They ask all the time, ‘How can we get involved?’ We’d love to see a LIV ladies series.” Norman was speaking in Adelaide, where LIV is hosting its first event in Australia, which starts on Friday. The first women’s major of the year — the Chevron Championship — which started in Texas on Thursday.

LIV Golf future in focus: Men’s Open champion Cameron Smith, 2021 US PGA Championship winner Phil Mickelson and four-time major winner Brooks Koepka are among the players who have joined LIV Golf. LIV players have been suspended indefinitely from the US-based PGA Tour while an arbitration panel ruled this month that the DP World Tour was entitled to sanction players who took part in LIV events without permission. LIV players such as Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood may now face bans from the Europe-based DP World Tour and the Ryder Cup.

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) is the majority shareholder in LIV and the gulf kingdom has been accused of investing in sport to ‘sportswash’ its reputation in other parts of the world, The PIF has Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as its chairman. A declassified US intelligence report released in February 2021 asserted that Bin Salman was complicit in the killing of dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi – an allegation Bin Salman has denied. When asked if he has questioned the Saudi leadership about human rights, Norman said he had not and added: “Why not? Because I am the chairman and CEO of LIV Golf Investments, and that’s where I focus, I focus on golf, I stay focused on golf.

“My job is to build out LIV and the product and the platform we have on the global front. “Golf is a force for good. I’ve built golf courses in third world countries, in communist countries. So golf is a force for good, it goes everywhere with the right platform.”