According to Ron Price, interim co-commissioner of the PGA Tour, if the PGA Tour’s agreement is implemented, Greg Norman’s job as commissioner of LIV Golf will be lost.
When asked by Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal – “Just to make it clear, [Norman] has lost his job?
Price responded: “If we come to a definitive agreement, this type of position would no longer be required.”
Price and Tour Board director Jimmy Dunne appeared before the Senate on Tuesday for three hours.
Norman’s absence from LIV is not a surprise, except for the fact that PGA Tour produced a written side agreement as part of Framework Agreement which was announced on June 6.
The document was disclosed on Tuesday in a memo to the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. Appendix 13 is an email from Ed Herlihy, chairman of the PGA Tour board, to Michael S. Klein (a representative for PIF) on May 24, highlighting a side letter consisting of one sentence that he suggested would be executed by all parties at the time the Framework Agreement was signed:
“In connection with execution of the Framework Agreement the Parties hereby consent that the services provided to LIV by Greg Norman and Performance54 will cease at the time the management transition is made to the PGA Tour as contemplated in the Framework Agreement. In any event, this must be no later than a month after.”
Price sent a second email shortly after, in which he stated, “After reading side letter language once more, I believe the ‘no sooner than one month afterwards’ refers to the time we take over management of LIV, rather than the one month following the execution of the Framework Agreement.” The filing does not show that both parties signed the document.
Norman is a former World No. Since he attempted to launch a separate tour in the 90s, Norman, a two-time major winner and member of the World Golf Hall of Fame, has been at odds for years with the PGA Tour. Norman still holds a grudge against the PGA Tour for refusing to support his breakaway tour in the 1990s. LIV Golf offered him another chance and provided the financial resources needed to convince several top players of the breakaway circuit. The circuit is now in its second year. PGA Tour players Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy all said that “Greg has to go.”
The PGA Tour appears to be trying to ensure that this will happen. Norman was not involved in the negotiations between the PGA Tour and DP World Tour until he got a call from Yasir al-Rumayyan. He will be the chairman of the new entity that oversees the PGA Tour LIV Golf, and DP World Tour. This phone call came minutes before CNBC announced the deal.
Price stated that “under the framework agreement,” if we can move forward to a definitive contract and it is approved the LIV Golf assets for which Greg Norman currently is the Commissioner would be moved into a subsidiary controlled by PGA Tour, and these events will managed by PGA Tour. We have the infrastructure to manage events. It would be a waste to hire a senior executive to oversee ‘currently a series 14 events.
Price confirmed that Norman was removed as Commissioner of LIV, and that this was the only informal agreement or side agreement that he “knew of.”
