Greg Norman built LIV Golf, essentially from nothing, and now he’s watching it come apart. The Shark has spent four and a half years defending the league through lawsuits, player defections, and a bitter war with the PGA Tour. But his latest comments strike a different note than the combative one he’s known for. This time, he sounds gutted to bid the league goodbye.
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Norman’s remarks came in an interview with Alan Shipnuck of Skratch, published as LIV wrapped its 2026 finale in Indiana. Shipnuck had spent the week on-site chronicling a tour stripped of its swagger, cancelled events, and unpaid members. Moreover, there is a growing sense among players and staff that the end is near. Norman, no longer LIV CEO but still its founding face, reflected on why the project mattered to him in the first place.
“We were a family,” he said. “We were united by the feeling that we were doing something new and exciting for the game of golf. It took an unbelievable amount of effort, and there were constant headwinds, but we did it because we believed in the vision. I am sad, disappointed, and gutted, to be honest. I hate it to see it wither away. I would rather just see it end.”
LIV’s financial crunch isn’t unknown to anyone. According to Shipnuck’s reporting, LIV’s Saudi backer, the Public Investment Fund, had pledged in February to fund the tour to 2032. Weeks later, tensions escalated between the United States and Iran which disrupted production and exports. By mid-April, the PIF issued a new five-year plan prioritizing domestic spending and delivered a blunt message to LIV CEO Scott O’Neil to stop spending and that no more money is coming.
The effects have been sharply visible. As the latest punch, LIV had to cancel its marquee $40 million season-ending team championship in Michigan.
According to CEO Scott O’Neil, a potential lifeline had emerged for LIV Golf, as he disclosed to unnamed investors. Reports have since speculated that BC Partners, a New York-based private equity firm, is behind it. Regardless, LIV Golf is facing issues as players look to start, or rather restart, their careers once again on the DP World Tour.
Norman’s exit from the league has been one of the most painful points in its short-lived history. Whether LIV will survive in any recognizable form remains unclear. But for Norman, who staked his reputation on building it, the preference is now a clean ending over the slow fade.