Parents: Greg Norman Wants Your Kids Cell Number And That's Not A Good Idea When The Saudis Are Involved

/

Art Stricklin files a fascinating piece for Golf.com on LIV Golf’s unsuccessful recruitment of recent UT grad and national champion Pierceson Coody.

The LIV proposal included a multi-million dollar signing bonus in exchange for a two-year commitment, Coody said. Also included, Coody said, were all travel expenses to tournaments this year and next, plus guaranteed prize money regardless of where he finished in any event.

Coody said he was given 12 days to decide on the offer.

Norman also requested Coody’s cell-phone number so he could pitch Coody personally.

“I shut that down in a hurry,” said Kyle, who also played golf for the University of Texas before testing his game in the pro ranks.

Kyle being Parker and Pierceson’s dad. And a smart man.

Backed by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, LIV Golf players defecting should know that upon giving up their cell phone number there is always the distinct possibility that the Kingdom is watching them.

As documented in multiple stories, Saudi Arabia is a user of the Pegasus software developed by Israeli firm NSO Group. And may continue to be despite a cancelled contract, as Ronen Bergman and Mark Mazzetti reported last year.

After the murder of Mr. Khashoggi in 2018, one of the firms, NSO Group, canceled its contracts with Saudi Arabia amid accusations that its hacking tools were being misused to abet heinous crimes.

But the Israeli government encouraged NSO and two other companies to continue working with Saudi Arabia, and issued a new license for a fourth to do similar work, overriding any concerns about human rights abuses, according to one senior Israeli official and three people affiliated with the companies.

Since then, Saudi Arabia has continued to use the spyware to monitor dissidents and political opponents.

Jimmy Dunne On Greg Norman: "The luckiest man in the world, because he had this vendetta his whole career and he found someone to bankroll it.”

/

Jimmy Dunne, whose firm lost employees in the 9/11 attacks and is current President of Seminole, spoke to SI’s Michael Rosenberg about LIV Golf and Greg Norman. He passed on discussing the Saudi role in 9/11 or in funding the rogue league.

“I don't like it when they say they're 'growing the game,’” Dunne said. “That's crap. I don't even like it when they say 'I have to do what's best for my family.' I really wonder how many of those guys, the lifestyle that they were living was so horrible that their family needed them to do this. Just say, 'I'm at a point in my career where I (want to) make five times as much money against much weaker competition and play less.' Just tell the truth. Don't cover it with a lot of crap.”

And on his fellow Florida resident Greg Norman:

Dunne said LIV CEO Greg Norman “is the luckiest man in the world, because he had this vendetta his whole career and he found someone to bankroll it.” Dunne understands that LIV is a threat to the PGA Tour. But he thinks it’s also a threat to the psyches of golfers who join it.

Norman On Nicklaus: “One hundred percent truth? Jack’s a hypocrite."

/

The Washington Post’s Kent Babb profiled Greg Norman on the eve of LIV Golf’s first event and shared several eye-opening anecdotes. Including how he’s “cut off his longtime mentor” according to Babb’s description.

“One hundred percent truth? Jack’s a hypocrite,” he says. “When he came out with those comments, I’m thinking: Jack must have a short memory.” He says Nicklaus attended a LIV presentation and later wrote in an email that the new tour had his blessing.

“Quote-unquote, he said: ‘This is good for our game. If it’s good for the game of golf, it’s good by me,’ ” Norman says. “So, you want the facts? You’ve got the facts. Know what you said before you open your mouth.”

A spokesman for Nicklaus, who’s being sued by his own company partly because of his negotiations with the Saudis, declined to make him available for an interview but sent a statement reiterating Nicklaus’s “unwavering support” for the PGA Tour and wishing Norman well.

I think their mutual friend, hero and favorite President Donald Trump should bring these two back together! The Palm Beach Peace Accords! Jared can package it so everyone profits.

Norman on critics and players who’ve signed up:

“It doesn’t bother me,” he says. “I’m not going to back off. I’m not going to show weakness to my team. I’m not going to show weakness to monopolists. I’m going to stand up for the rights of the players.”

He pauses before continuing. “The players who decide to come on board, God bless them,” he says. “They’re going to make a lot of money.”

Norman recently went to say goodbye to his dying father and, well…

Three weeks before this year’s Masters, Norman traveled to Brisbane. The time had come to say goodbye. He walked in for the first time in four years and saw Merv in a chair he rarely leaves, where he sleeps 17 hours a day, the once-muscular man who had raised and taught and scarred him now frail at 135 pounds.

He won’t let Norman pay for a nurse, won’t sit in a wheelchair. Imagine being that stubborn, Norman says. Merv faded in and out, and Norman spoke fast as he tried to explain this thing he’s building. It’s big, he said, though Tiger and Phil and Jack, of all people … But Merv couldn’t hear him. He’d fallen asleep. 

Norman talking about LIV Golf will do that to a lot of people.

Seems his sister and mother aren’t enjoying this much, either.

When Norman was in Brisbane this spring, his mother and sister tried probing him. Toini was alarmed by some of what her son was saying, in particular that Nicklaus had flipped on him. Janis said she recently stopped reading about LIV and her brother in the Australian press because, she says, they’re “crucifying” him.

“I know he doesn’t always care,” Janis says. “But we do.” “We don’t want his reputation to be ruined completely,” Toini says. “He’s always been looked up to, and now …”

Norman’s 91-year-old mother pauses.

“We don’t know,” she says. “He’s certainly becoming more and more like Dad,” Janis says. “When he gets an idea,” Toini says, “then he will just — he won’t give up on anything.”

LIV Golf's London Fire Sale: Free Tickets For Anyone Who Wants Them!

/

England’s Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter are the top stars returning to home turf for LIV Golf’s first event in London this week. To celebrate, they gave out a coupon code offering free passes to the first 100 fans using the codes POULTER25 or WESTWOOD25.

Days later the offer still works in Westwood’s case, while 24 hours in the freebies are still there using Poulter’s name. Note in the example above, I asked for the max of 8 and

Some just tried for fun, put in JOHNSON25, and also got a free pass. Or up to 8 if they want.

One player + 25 who did not work? MICKELSON.

Some Google searchers are also getting this 70% off ad when entering a query for the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia’s grow the game initiative:

LIV's Cutting Edge Talking Points: We're Here To Grow The Game

/

One can only close the eyes to picture the jubilation that must have come over the LIV Golf executive team as they landed on the real mission of their scheme to get-rich off the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia. Hoping to find their Think Different vision for the league and appeal to the young people who have not been wowed by modern game messaging, they brainstormed and landed on? Grow the game!

I’ve written about this virus before and its ability to keep going even as the game has grown substantially the last few years. But it’s such an elusive strain. So much so that LIV’s high-paid executives aren’t dialed in enough to know it’s a laughing stock amongst those in the coveted demo they are so hungry to sportwash on The YouTube.

You’d think a young, hip leader like Greg Norman would have known this.

Nice job by The Fried Egg to obtain and share these profound talking points which, unfortunately, were put in writing. Generally a medium not conducive to reaching the world’s leading golf professionals.

The fan stuff and how they reached their conclusions on format is, of course, extra ridiculous given that the blueprint and details for LIV Golf were stolen from the Premier Golf League concept.

Peak Norman Narcissism: "I’m not sure whether I even have any gay friends, to be honest with you.”

/

Following a series of interviews to promote the upcoming LIV Golf event outside London, the entity has sought to clarify Commissioner Greg Norman’s various idiotic and ignorant remarks regarding murder. Their statement:

"The killing of Jamal Khashoggi was reprehensible. Everyone agrees on that, including Greg, as he has said as such previously on many occasions. Greg also knows that golf is a force for good around the world and can help make inroads toward positive change. That is why he is so excited about LIV and that was the point he was making."

Clean-up on aisle 4 still needs cleaning up.

Norman was condemned by the widow of Jamal Khashoggi following his wave of interviews. You may recall that the journalist was at the Saudi consulate to get a marriage license when U.S. intelligence believe a team of Crown Prince bin Salman’s detail murdered Khashoggi, dismembered him with a bonesaw and disposed of his remains. From The Telegraph:

"Would you say that if it was your loved one? How can we go forward when those who ordered the murder are still unpunished, and continue to try to buy back their legitimacy?" Ms Cengiz said.

"We should not fall for their wealth and lies, and lose our morals and common humanity.

"We should all be insisting on the truth and justice; only then can we look forward with hope and dignity."

Ms Cengiz's statement was released by her lawyer, Rodney Dixon, the British newspaper reported.

The hits keep on coming, with more of Norman’s comments to a group of journalists getting their chance to settle in. Apparently, Saudi Arabia’s horrendous record on gay rights is not an issue for the Shark because, well, who could imagine this answer.

"I’m not sure whether I even have any gay friends, to be honest with you.”

Next he’ll be saying doesn’t have any friends who were chopped up by a bonesaw so, really, could it have even happened?

The New York Times’ Bill Pennington sums it all up and to the surprise of no one who has followed Norman’s late life buffoonery, he’s dragging the LIV effort down.

He’s now lost Australia’s greatest female golfer:

Greg Norman On Murder And Beheading Prone Saudi Arabia: "We've all made mistakes" And "I heard about it and just kept moving on"

/

Apparently LIV Golf Commish Greg Norman hasn’t sat down to read the details of Jamal Khashoggi’s killing lately. But according to Rick Broadbent of The Times, he continued is case for murder as politics and committed his latest gaffe with regard to the LIV Golf tour/league’s financing.

Norman, the frontman for the series, said: “Everybody has owned up to it, right? It has been spoken about, from what I’ve read, going on what you guys reported. Take ownership, no matter what it is. Look, we’ve all made mistakes and you just want to learn from those mistakes and how you can correct them going forward.”

Hard to correct when the body has never been found and was dismembered with a bonesaw.

This answer was also stupendously bad even by the standards of someone who called himself the living brand.

The two-times Open champion, who said he had never met Bin Salman, was also asked how he felt when he heard about the execution of 81 men in Saudi Arabia on March 12. “I got a lot of messages but quite honestly I look forward,” he said.

Messages? Oh?

“I don’t look back. I don’t look into the politics of things. I’m not going to get into the quagmire of whatever else happens in someone else’s world. I heard about it and just kept moving on.”

Let The Legal Wrangling Begin! PGA Tour Denies Waivers For LIV Events

/

The expected showdown over LIV Golf’s Portland stop ended before it began.

Instead, the PGA Tour expedited the inevitable showdown with the Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf by denying player waivers to the upcoming LIV Invitational outside London. While many expected the Tour to allow their players that lucrativeplaying opportunity, a memo sent to players—and plenty of media who’ve apparently joined the player email list—explained the Tour’s position. The statement to players was sent at 6:30 p.m. ET and it’s tight! From GolfDigest.com’s Dan Rapaport story:

"We have notified those who have applied that their request has been declined in accordance with the PGA TOUR Tournament Regulations. As such, TOUR members are not authorized to participate in the Saudi Golf League’s London event under our Regulations," PGA Tour Senior Vice President Tyler Dennis wrote to players in the memo. "As a membership organization, we believe this decision is in the best interest of the PGA TOUR and its players."

The key words seem to be Tournament Regulations and “membership organization.”

LIV Commish Greg Norman found time after a busy daydigging new landmines while promoting the London stop to issue a lawyerly response. Bob Harig at MorningRead.com has it:

“Sadly, the PGA Tour seems intent on denying professional golfers their right to play golf, unless it’s exclusively in a PGA Tour tournament. This is particularly disappointing in light of the Tour’s non-profit status, where its mission is purportedly ‘to promote the common interests of professional tournament golfers.’ Instead, the Tour is intent on perpetuating its illegal monopoly of what should be a free and open market," Norman said.

"The Tour’s action is anti-golfer, anti-fan, and anti-competitive. But no matter what obstacles the PGA Tour puts in our way, we will not be stopped. We will continue to give players options that promote the great game of golf globally.”

We can tell Greg didn’t write this because it was devoid of mindless “grow the game” references and contradictions from one sentence to the next.

So where does this leave the showdown?

Lawyers making money!

GolfDigest.com’s Joel Beall talked to a few legal types regarding the PGA Tour’s right to block players and, well, it’s complicated.

More curious about all of this in the short term? Consider:

  • The DP World Tour is more immediately threatened by the upcoming London event and likely to see some of its better players wanting to play. But thanks to the PGA Tour they did not have to act first.

  • The PGA Championship is next week and perhaps the PGA Tour felt it would be better for their partners in Frisco to get these headlines out of the way now instead of having players get asked for an update on their release? AT&T is crapped on all the time so why not once more?

  • The 6:30 p.m. ET memo to players came after Norman admitted earlier in the day that the rival tour is a rival tour with long range commitments, not just some alternative opportunity for independent contractors who’ve long dreamed of shotgun starts. Perhaps the Tour’s lawyers had their reason to green light the release denial?

Norman revealed eight days ago that players were still under contract to play LIV Golf’s events. Presumably the contracts are not telling them what to wear.

"To this day, we still have players under contract and signed," Norman said. "The ones who wanted to get out because of the pressure of the PGA Tour gave back their money and got out. Guys had money in their pockets."

Presumably the contracts outline what exactly is required to see Saudi Arabia’s money in their accounts. We can only presume this means mandated appearances to play golf tournaments, not deliver readings of their favorite philosophy books. A cynic might even think these contracts serve as an advance for committing to an exclusive Saudi league with a binding franchise commitment that Norman made official in multiple interviews Tuesday.

Norman told the BBC these are “baiter” events coming up. Generally one uses bait to catch things?

Norman explained that his initial Invitational Series is just a beginning. "Twenty-two and 23 are our baiter years. We are a start up, basically," he said.

"I think people will realise the platform we have out there, the ability of the fans to get a better experience for the players, the stakeholders. Our production budget is mind-blowingly impressive."

A baiting start-up and better experience. Sure sounds like a rival league, one that might allow the PGA Tour to enforce its regulations.

Time and lot of lawyers will tell us who has the right to do what. But it sure sounds like the LIV folks were eager to assure players that their Saudi sugar daddies were in this for the long haul, freeing up Jared Kushner-level money and said a little too much too soon?

Saudis Commit Another $2 Billion Into LIV, Names Not Revealed For First Event To Air On YouTube

/

The LIV Golf folks admirably opened their Commissioner to questioning following news of a staggering infusion of more money and to roll out world ranking numbers hoping to play the June 2-9 event outside London. One huge catch: Commissioner Greg Norman is a terrible interview and continues to do his best to sink this ambitious ship. Assuming you expect consistency, clarity, vision, non-B speak or a sense this is something to be taken seriously.

And the grow the game references are almost a nervous tick at this point. Another sign no one has been able to tell him the phrase is a way of announcing to the world, “I’m a stooge with no one around me to say stop using that inane, phony, shallow phrase.”

The latest rollout’s details.

  • According to Bob Harig at Morning Read, “LIV Golf Investments received 170 entries for the June 9-11 event at the Centurion Golf Club outside of London, with 36 ranked among the top 150 in the Official World Golf Ranking. Several amateurs, who have apparently worked out NIL (name, image and likeness) deals, will also be part of the 48-player field.”

  • Not a single player name was released. Norman said 19 of the top 100, and six of the top 50 are committed. Again, before releases were granted.

  • These field numbers, cited by Norman in multiple interviews, have been made before all releases from the PGA Tour and DP World Tour have been granted. With the DP potentially saying no to as many as 40, the numbers may take a hit.

  • Norman announced a new “infusion of $2 billion from the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia that will help launch its eight-tournament schedule this year, a 10-tournament slate in 2023 and the league, which in 2024 and 2025 will have 14 tournaments that include 12 four-man teams. Norman is in London for a promotional event tied to the first tournament.”

  • This is new money on top of the initial investment that appears appears meant to show a commitment beyond this year and next but also comes with players needing to commit to a league concept starting in ‘24.

  • A league concept sure goes against any kind of independent contractor situation, potentially undermining LIV’s legal case when coupled with previous Norman admissions that players are under contract.

Norman gave interviews to Sky Sports and BBC where, at best, he was all over the map.

Facing tough questions from Jamie Weir, Norman was wildly inconsistent spinning the the funding sources track record.

Norman said that he understood people's concerns about the source of the money funding the tour and the human rights violations in Saudi Arabia, but added that the country was making a "cultural change from within" and that he specifically has no ties to the government.

"100 per cent [I understand]," Norman said. "And it's reprehensible what happened with [Jamal] Khashoggi. Own up to it, talk about it.

"But if you go back into Saudi Arabia, they're making a cultural change from within to change that. They don't want to have that stigma sitting over there.

"The generation of kids that I see today on the driving range, they don't want that stigma going on into generations and their kids. They want to change that culture and they are changing it.

"And you know how they're doing it? Golf."

I believe that’s what they call sportwashing, as Weir noted. Greg said no.

Norman added: "I'm not going to get into politics, I don't know what the Saudi government does. I don't want to get into that. Every country has a cross to bear.

"They're not my bosses. We're independent. I do not answer to Saudi Arabia. I do not answer to their government or MBS [Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud].

"I answer to my board of directors, and MBS is not on that. Simple as that. So that narrative is untrue."

Wonder who he thinks the board reports to?

Maybe the Crown Prince got a standing O at the last PIFSA annual meeting for his choice of sandal?

The full interview is a wild mess of contradictions:

"The generation of kids that I see today on the driving range, they don't want that stigma going on into generations and their kids. They want to change that culture and they are changing it.

"And you know how they're doing it? Golf."

Norman added: "I'm not going to get into politics, I don't know what the Saudi government does. I don't want to get into that. Every country has a cross to bear.

"They're not my bosses. We're independent. I do not answer to Saudi Arabia. I do not answer to their government or MBS [Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud].

"I answer to my board of directors, and MBS is not on that. Simple as that. So that narrative is untrue."

"Their commitment to the league when it gets to 2024 is because they will own part of a franchise. They'll be able to go: Okay, I want to be traded for 'X'. They will be creating value within that team. The value today that doesn't exist for any player, anywhere in the world.

"It's up to them to make that decision. Personally, I wish I had this opportunity.

"We are not trying to destroy the Tour. 100 per cent not. I will fight to my death on that one. I'm still a lifetime member of the PGA Tour."

Speaking to BBC’s Iain Carter, Norman is backing off the use of disruptor or disruption and now calling 2022 and 2023 as LIV’s “baiter” years. “We are a start up, basically," he said.

With seed money from a regime that loves to cut people’s heads off after a not-fair trial.

Carter asked about television and high ticket prices for the initial events.

"I think people will realise the platform we have out there, the ability of the fans to get a better experience for the players, the stakeholders. Our production budget is mind-blowingly impressive."

He then revealed the opening event in Hertfordshire will be shown on YouTube. "Centurion will be streamed live," he said. "We have a lot of linear and OTT [over the top] people wanting to come in with us. We are under NDAs with nine of them."

NDA’s…except with YouTube!

Throughout the interview he insisted the primary objective is to "grow the game" and deferred to ticketing agencies for ground pass prices that start at £69.22 per day and £52 for students. By way of comparison, ticket prices for last week's British Masters at The Belfry started at £40.

"Ticket people make those decisions," he said.

Ah that’s the hands on, take all responsibility type of leadership you love to see!