Greg Norman faced a lot of criticism after he became the CEO of LIV Golf. Notably, it wasn’t just just fans, but also from PGA Tour pros he had competed against, including Tiger Woods. But after all these years of public ridicule from golf’s most powerful voices, he has finally spoken about how he felt when PGA Tour pros criticized him. He admitted there were moments when he wanted to fire back.

“It did hurt Jim. I’m sitting here categorically and tell you it hurt a lot. But I had to stay on the high road by not getting into the minutia of these arguments. And I did that respectfully and methodically. And even though I wanted to lash out at times, I couldn’t because it was for the betterment of the game,” Greg Norman told The Big Swing With Jimmy Roberts.

“Brutal in all aspects of lack of understanding, lack of willingness to sit down to understand. Now, if you don’t even sit there from the beginning and understand the opportunities that private equity and we all have an understanding of roughly what that investment that LIV has put into or the PIF has put into it. It’s not my position to give you the number, but there is significant amount of money put in. So if that money was in for LIV, but it was also in for golf. But if you’re not going to sit down there and understand that, and if you create a beachhead right from the beginning, that creates a problem. And so I took a lot of heat for that,” he added.

Greg Norman faced intense personal and professional criticism after becoming CEO of LIV Golf in 2022. For instance, at the 2022 DP World Tour Championship, Rory McIlroy said that Norman played a part in starting the PGA Tour and LIV Golf’s “civil war.” He even suggested that Norman should exit the stage.

The same goes for Tiger Woods. The 15x major champion clearly dislikes the Saudi-backed league, and has even cut ties with many who have joined LIV. Ahead of The Open 2022, the 82x PGA Tour winner vocally opposed Norman and LIV Golf. He called for Norman’s removal as CEO, and said that his actions were “not in the best interest of our game.” Notably, Woods criticized LIV’s format for its lack of incentive and rejected massive offers (reportedly $700-800M) to join.

However, Greg Norman has a different view about LIV Golf. He emphasized that the league introduced player free agency, team ownership, and content creation opportunities, crediting it for Bryson DeChambeau’s YouTube success. According to him, this has helped create wealth generation opportunities for golfers, not just on LIV but also on the PGA Tour. The Australian pro affirmed he would repeat his efforts, as private equity has transformed golf.

The problem, however, is that Tiger Woods and other PGA Tour pros don’t want to accept Norman’s point of view. And as the 20x PGA Tour winner said, no one is ready to sit down and talk or listen.

Notably, Greg Norman and Tiger Woods had issues even before LIV Golf’s inception. After the American professional’s 2019 Masters victory, Norman gave a handwritten note to Woods’ guard. However, he never heard back from him. But the story goes back even further.

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Roots of the Tiger Woods, Greg Norman feud

Tiger Woods and Greg Norman’s feud started when the 15x major champion was in college. His college teammate Conrad Ray shared this story in a YouTube video uploaded by Skratch University.

The 82x PGA Tour winner once had a college roommate who was completely unaware of golf icons. He had no clue about golf and the elite stars who had by then become household names, including Greg Norman. Ahead of the 1995 Masters, the Australian wanted to set up a practice match with Woods. However, when he called, it was Woods’ roommate who answered. Firstly, he didn’t recognize Greg Norman, and to top that, he failed to pass on the message. This sparked early miscommunication between the two.

Despite the snag, Norman played nine holes with Woods at IMG’s request. However, tensions escalated when Woods turned pro and skipped Norman’s 1996 Shark Shootout to play in the Australian Open instead.

Then, in the 1998 Presidents Cup, their rivalry further intensified, with Woods specifically requesting a match against Norman. While he was able to defeat Norman, the US Team still lost the Presidents Cup. This college-era friction resurfaced in LIV Golf wars, where Woods demanded the then CEO, Norman’s exit for PGA-LIV peace.

Greg Norman’s comments on the Big Swing With Jimmy Roberts podcast reveal the personal cost behind his decision to stand firm. With long-standing tensions and opposing views still unresolved, his stance underscores a divide that continues to shape the sport’s future.