If a shark is left to thrash about on a dry deck, gasping for water, it will die within a few minutes. Greg Norman’s tenure as CEO of LIV Golf was measured by at least one measure.
There has been a constant stream of reports, rumors, and speculation about LIV, which has led to speculation that Mark King, the ex-CEO of TaylorMade could replace the finger puppet with a flaxen hair. King responded to my July inquiry through a friend that he would not be accepting the job. King’s denial and subsequent volte face would give him at least something to share with his players. As the current CEO of Taco Bell, he has a lot of relevant experience in packaging the unpalatable and synthetic as genuine and nourishing.
LIV’s leadership will not be restructured to remove a polarizing figure who is motivated by a personal animus towards the PGA Tour. He is viewed with disdain and contempt by many top players, some of whom he has squandered MBS’s money. Swapping out Shark would be a sign of short-term desperation rather than long-term determination. Perhaps even a new face-saving plan by the Saudis. This would be LIV’s last move before it is forced to admit that the problem is not who captains the ship.
The LIV metaverse isn’t all roses, despite Norman’s endless bluster and bots. The PGA Tour gave its loyalists the elite events, larger prize money, and bigger bonuses, but LIV has not given its recruits anything except cash. There is no right to cherry-pick from other tours, there are no ranking points in the world, no clear path to the majors, broadcast rights deals, audiences, public praise, or applause for the growth of the game.
Saudi Arabia secured players, unemployed executives and the goodwill of media influencers. But even though the kingdom has the resources to purchase fan loyalty or the acceptance of established golf institutions, it couldn’t buy their ability to secure the best. It’s difficult to sell team golf, especially when the product is poor and the association is too toxic for commercial sponsors. This reality will not be changed by replacing a CEO who is confident beyond his competence.
Recent days have seen rumblings among LIV players as well as reports of tightening of belts regarding the lavish perks that were once given to their entourages. Worse for Norman, or any luckless executive who replaces him, are whispers of a reckoning about the question that LIV does not have an answer to: Where is the return on investment? MBS even has limits on the extent to which he will be fooled by Pat Perezs around the world.
LIV, if it was held to standard business standards, would have collapsed due to its strategic failures and managerial ineptitude. Not even its moral financiers. It is due to Saudi generosity and the many willing to sacrifice themselves to ensure it doesn’t. It needs to survive now because it lacks spine in those who are more educated.
In the coming months, expect to hear a steady increase in the drumbeat of a band full of charlatans and gobshites who insist that a deal must be struck for the benefit of professional golf. Some will support such an agreement because they hate conflict. Others will see it as a noble way to keep Saudi Arabian money in the game for long enough to get their share.
These graduates of the Neville Chamberlain diplomacy school will tell us that the PGA, DP World tours are defibrillators of LIV and that they must work together to revive an ebbing party so that others can pick its pockets for a while longer. This position is both shameful and shamingful, and should be dismissed with contempt. Jay Monahan and Keith Pelley are the only ones who have threatened one of these tours.
No matter what divisions golf has to cross, or how personal relationships need to be repaired, it is not possible to use the sport wholesale as a way for Riyadh’s sportswashing ambitions. The sport of golf cannot be made respectable or accepted by the Saudi Arabian regime without serious reputational consequences. Golf cannot host cancer and expect to be healthy.
