Amid suggestions of his removal from office, Greg Norman’s role as chief executive and commissioner of the LIV golf association has been strengthened, meaning more autonomy in the running of a second-year tournament that has announced its 2023 schedule and will begin play next month.
Sports Illustrated It was learned that Majed Al-Sorour, Managing Director of LIV Golf, will leave this position but will continue as one of seven members of the LIV Golf Board of Directors. Al-Sorour is also the CEO of the Saudi Golf Federation.
The pleasure role is not filled with LIV Golf, which means more power to Norman, 67, two-time Grand Championship winner and member of the World Golf Hall of Fame and whose leadership has been questioned by PGA Tour stars Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy.
The change was confirmed to Norman and Al Sorour for SI by a LIV Golf official, and the league released a statement on Monday:
“Majid Al-Sorour has been and will continue to be an invaluable part of LIV Golf, as he continues to serve on the Board of Directors. Majid’s role was pivotal in supporting the launch of LIV Golf. With the business moving into its first full season and with a new broadcast partnership in place, it is time to transition the role of Managing Director and for Majid For focusing efforts and attention on other interests. We are grateful to Majid for his hard work and contributions and for bringing LIV to this new stage.”
LIV Golf is also announcing its schedule, which will see some adjustments from previously released versions of its 14-course roster. As previously announced, the league will kick off its first tournament on February 24 at the Mayakoba Golf Resort in Mexico.
Related: View the full 2023 LIV Golf schedule here
Late additions to the schedule are the season-ending team event in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and the Boston event – where Dustin Johnson won a playoff– canceled. There will also be a tournament the week before the Masters at the Orange County National outside Orlando.
What was supposed to be an end-of-season team event in Doral in September will now move to October as a regular event, with the team championship taking place at Royal Greens Golf and Country Club in Saudi Arabia in early November.
With the schedule now released, The announcement last week of a television deal with The CW Network, and the pending disclosure of the 48-player, 12-team stadium for 2023, the daily pleasure duties are no longer necessary. He’s already busy with other Saudi sporting endeavors, such as Newcastle United Football Club, WWE and his role with the country’s golf association.
LIV Golf has already undergone a restructuring after Atul Khosla, Chief Operating Officer, left LIV Golf in December. He has been replaced by three executives at Performance 54, the UK-based agency that has been working with LIV Golf since its formation in 2021.
All of them are responsible for Norman, whose direct contact will now be Yasser Al-Rumayyan, the governor of the Public Investment Fund. The Public Investment Fund is Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, said to be worth around $620 billion, and the source of funding for LIV Golf.
If Woods and McIlroy had their way, Norman would have been removed. In recent months, both players have said they could see the potential for a collaboration between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf if Norman is no longer part of the leadership.
“I think Greg needs to go,” McIlroy said. Which also indicated that litigation between the parties would also need to be terminated. “I think he just needs to get off the stage left. He made his mark, but I think now is a good time to kind of say, look, I got this thing off the floor, but nobody’s going to talk unless there’s an adult in the room who can really Try to mend fences.”
Woods, who along with McIlroy helped the PGA Tour devise a plan that would see the best players compensate better this year Through custom events with high walletsHe said similar things about Norman in the World Champion Challenge.
“I think Greg has to go, first of all, and then obviously litigate against us and then counterclaim them, and then those too should be in residence. So we can talk, we can talk freely.”
Norman responded over the weekend to a Fox News segment in which he said Woods doesn’t know all the facts “because obviously I’m still here” and that he “might be a bit of a mouthpiece on the PGA Tour to try and get us to create turbulence and try to cause it internally within LIV.” “.
There may have been some turbulence regarding LIV’s golf schedule, which was supposed to be released sometime in late November. Playing an event again in Saudi Arabia was not part of the original plan, nor was an extension of the season until November.
LIV previously announced a Mayakoba event, along with an event in Tucson, Arizona, in March and tournaments in Australia, Singapore, Spain, Oklahoma, and West Virginia.
On Monday it announced a tournament the weekend before the Masters (March 31-April 2) at the Orange County National outside Orlando, as well as other tournaments in New Jersey, Washington, D.C., London, Chicago, Miami and Jeddah.
Norman has been appointed CEO and Commissioner of LIV Golf in November 2021. Winner of the 1986 and 93 British Opens, Norman has won 20 times on the PGA Tour and over 60 other world titles.
But he has long had a contentious relationship with the PGA Tour over his ability to play where he wanted around the world without having to get permission in the previous version. This is ultimately the crux of the battle between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf.
2023 LIV Golf Schedule
February 24-26: El Camaleon Golf Club, Playa del Carmen, Mexico
March 17-19: Gallery Golf Club, Tucson, AZ.
March 31 – April 2: Orange County National (Crooked Cat), Orlando
From April 21 to 23: Grange Golf Club, Adelaide, Australia
April 28-30: Sentosa Golf Club (Serapong Course), Singapore
May 12-14: Cedar Ridge Country Club, Broken Arrow, Okla.
May 26-28: Trump National Golf Club, Washington, DC
June 30 – July 2: Real Club Valderrama, Sotogrande, Spain
July 7-9: Centurion Club, London
August 4-6: The Old White Course, White Sulfur Springs, W.Va
August 11-13: Trump National Golf Club, Bedminster, NJ
September 22-24: Rich Harvest Farms, Sugar Grove, Illinois.
October 20-22: Trump National Doral, Miami
November 3-5: Royal Greens Golf and Country Club, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia