It appears Greg Norman has set his sights on the Genesis Invitational champ. The Saudi-backed league was reported to have tried and seems to be still trying to rope Anthony Kim into their fray, not too long ago. However, the CEO of the alternate circuit came forward to drop a massive revelation in his interview with Australian Golf Digest.

The tweet shared by NUCLR GOLF on their X handle mentions how the league is currently targeting Hideki Matsuyama. Elaborating on the same, he said, “We’ve been trying to sign Hideki Matsuyama. I don’t mind admitting that,” before recounting how he congratulated the golfer when he won the signature event; “When Hideki won (The Genesis Invitational) in LA, what’s the first thing I did? I said “Congratulations, Hideki. I’m proud of you, mate.”

Although he was all about revealing the news about the Japanese golfer, the same couldn’t be said of the rumors surrounding Kim. “Stay tuned, mate. Stay tuned,” urged the Australian entrepreneur when the interviewer tried to get something out of him following the speculations that arose surrounding him taking over the negotiations to rope in the disappeared golfer back to the greens.

A little while back, the rumor mills of the industry had started to run again at full speed as the American professional was reported to join the breakaway league as a wildcard in the Jeddah event. Moreover, as per reports, the golfer was also speculated to have been “cleaning up in money games” and is also apparently “working closely with a new coaching team.” 

Meanwhile, Norman shared his thoughts on the two golfers and their probable future in LIV Golf after conveying how he takes “emotion out of everything” while making his decision. “I’m very good at that,” said the entrepreneur before continuing, “I don’t bring emotion into business… into anything. If you do, I think that shows the weakness of an individual.” Interestingly, he went ahead to prove himself right by bringing Rory McIlroy into the discussion.

Greg Norman holds no grudge with Rory McIlroy

The Northern Irishman had been an outspoken critic of LIV Golf and its players up until a while back, before Jon Rahm’s defection. But even so, the Australian shark expressed how he would congratulate him if he won this year’s major. Elaborating on this, he said, “If Rory wins this year’s Masters, I’ll say congratulations on achieving the grand slam.” Continuing with his response, he added, “That’s sport and that’s sportsmanship, and that’s the humility of the game. That’s me. That’s how I would do it.”

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The 34-year-old had, back in 2022, called the Saudi-backed league a circuit that was “dead in the water.” However, in recent months, the 24-time PGA Tour winner started to show much more acceptance towards the rebel league. He also changed his stance on various matters involving the defectors, including their qualifications for the biennial tournament and their return to the PGA Tour and European circuits. Nevertheless, in the end, after such a U-turn, it seems even McIlroy would undoubtedly welcome the LIV Golf CEO’s wishes with both arms. One need only wait and see if he would win the upcoming Masters.

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