- Greg Norman has led the Saudi-backed LIV Golf tour since it’s inception in 2021
- The former World No 1 has been one of the most divisive figure’s in golf’s civil war
- The Australian still has one year remaining on his deal with the Saudi-backed tour
Greg Norman’s controversial reign over the LIV golf circuit is nearing a close with the breakaway series poised to appoint a new chief executive.
The Australian has led the Saudi-backed tour since its inception in 2021 and has been one of the most divisive figures in the sport’s civil war.
With a ceasefire in the process of being ratified after 17 months of merger talks between the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour, it has now emerged that LIV are set to appoint theme park boss Scot O’Neil in his place. Mail Sport has contacted LIV for comment.
Merlin Entertainments, the Poole-based company which own Alton Towers and Legoland, confirmed on Wednesday that O’Neil will step down from his role as CEO at the end of the year for ‘another opportunity’.
It is currently unclear where O’Neil’s arrival would leave Norman, who has one year to run on his LIV deal, though he is expected to stay with the circuit in a more limited capacity.
The Australian, whose agitations for a rebel league date right back to his days as the world’s leading golfer, has faced huge criticism for his role in driving a wedge through the game.
But even his detractors privately acknowledge surprise at how rapidly he was able to assemble a cast of A-list players. The ability to spend upwards of $2billion of Saudi money was naturally the most persuasive factor, but the presence of one of golf’s most iconic names in those early days of the breakaway was also key.
And yet, after the bomb blasts of the inaugural season in 2022, it was noticeable that Norman became less visible and it has long been seen as inevitable that he would need to step aside to achieve a merger.
Rory McIlroy, for one, has repeatedly taken aim at the former world No 1 and said two years ago that Norman needed to ‘exit stage left’ so ‘adults’ could plot a way forward. Plans to appoint O’Neil, the former CEO of the Philadelphia 76ers NBA team, will therefore be perceived as helpful to that goal.
Although progress reports around the merger have been thin in detail, with all sides committed to keeping the particulars locked down, the election of Donald Trump as US President is expected to speed up the torturously slow process.
