Greg Norman is not apologizing. Nor does he have any plans to. As he recently bid adieu to LIV, data pour in revealing the bitter reality. LIV burnt $1.4B in the last 3 years. Yet, Norman believes he deserves praise for the “meaningful changes” he made. Of course, this was not going to sit right with many, as one golf insider, Eamon Lynch, took a rather brutal jab at Norman’s defiance. Lynch has been an ardent critic of the Saudi-backed league. So when Norman shared his victory lap of sorts in a recent interview with Australian Golf Digest, Lynch was not convinced.

“The interview shows Norman warming to his favorite topic – himself, and wrongs perpetrated against him… he views the warped landscape LIV begat as something he ought to be congratulated for,” Lynch remarked. “It’s like watching the embers of the Hindenburg tumble to earth while its designer loudly demands praise for having gotten it airborne and striking a match.”

Lynch described Norman’s tone as self-congratulatory and tone-deaf.

“Leaving aside the moral burlesque of an apparatchik for the Saudi Arabian government complaining about abuse (social media doesn’t cut quite like a bone saw), for many of its critics, LIV was and is about sportswashing the record of its financier. For others, though, it has only ever been a dispute about money, principally who was getting it versus who should have been. That’s the only lens a moral cipher like Norman is capable of applying.”

“Bless his heart. He’s actually convinced himself that he ran through a brick wall, rather than just into one,” Lynch wrote.

For the third consecutive year, LIV Golf has suffered heavy financial blows.  LIV Golf Ltd., the UK-based arm handling the operations outside the US, reported losses of roughly $462 million in 2024. LIV Golf meant to change traditional golf’s landscape, earned around $64.9 million in revenue, but spent a ridiculously high $526.7 million. The pictures get dirtier if one looks closer: $396 million loss in 2023, $243 million in 2022, easily bringing the non-US total to more than $1.4 billion in just three years. Don’t catch your breath yet, as it is just half the picture.

LIV Golf Inc., the American entity managing the domestic events, did not even disclose its books. Combined with operational costs in the US and player contracts, estimates suggest LIV has burned through well over $5 billion since its debut year. And this has happened without turning any profit or building a consistent audience. Yet, for Norman, it is a“Mission accomplished.”

So, of course, if Norman, despite such heavy losses incurred during his tenure, will turn a blind eye and celebrate his time with the league as “draining” but “necessary,” critics will speak.

“…That to me was part of the job – I had to do it, right?” Norman noted.

Greg credited himself for the assimilation of Strategic Sports Group, partnering with the PGA Tour.

“They started to see that what LIV did – bring private equity into the game of golf for the first time in 53 years – was a positive,” Greg told Australian Golf Digest.

LIV’s business model has always leaned on Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), a sovereign wealth fund worth nearly $1 trillion. The filing confirmed that PIF had issued a “letter of support,” assuring that LIV has “sufficient financial resources to meet its liabilities.”

In simpler terms: the PIF bankrolls everything, and without its funding, LIV wouldn’t survive another season. Yet it is for certain reasons incurring all those heavy losses.

Well, the answer is clear: the structure is costly by design.

The reason for LIV’s financial downward spiral

LIV stages 14 tournaments per season, seven of which take place outside the US, with $20 million prize purses per event, which has now ballooned to $1.34 billion. And then it is not hidden how much it paid stars to lure them away from the PGA Tour.

Jon Rahm, who led his Legion XIII team to the top spot this year, has already earned $75 million in prize money alone — excluding his signing deal (which was reportedly around $300 million). Needless to say, it is reconsidering such offers. Then comes the broadcast rights.

As innovative as it claimed to be during its formative years, LIV has consistently failed to generate a stable audience for itself. Its overseas TV deal brings in only $3.2 million annually. To put into perspective, the PGA Tour’s domestic media generates approximately $680 million per year, a 70% increase from its previous deal.

Meanwhile, its 2026 schedule is reportedly set for 14 events, but only 11 have been confirmed, with just three taking place in the US. The rest depend on venue partnerships, many of which LIV has tried to secure from the DP World Tour, occasionally stirring friction in the process—it wants to partner up with them.

All this is happening when a deal with the PGA Tour remains in the fray. Despite several attempts— more from LIV’s side—no end to the year-long saga is in sight. Things seemed to ruffle when Jay Monahan was in the discussion. But now that Brian Rolapp took over the reins for the Tour, he seems focused on other discrepancies rather than a merger.

Yet, critics like Eamon Lynch think a potential partnership could only be the solution. “The sole face-saving hope that exists for LIV is a deal with the PGA Tour…The pressure must be mounting on LIV’s only benefactor, Yasir Al-Rumayyan.” Notably, Yasir Al-Rumayyan was seen with Donald Trump recently, fueling rumors that an update regarding the merger is near.

Four seasons in, LIV’s ambition remains clear but unsustainable. Norman, however, seems unfazed. “If you’re going to make meaningful change, running through a brick wall without getting bloody, that’s not going to happen,” he said. But as Lynch notes, the question is whether he ran through it—or straight into it.