Norman On Five Clubs Pod: Grow The Game, Grow The Game, Grow The Game

Appearing on Gary Williams’ Five Clubs podcast, LIV Golf Commish Greg Norman was pressed by the host on the financing behind his 8-event schedule. Sitting in front of the Sydney opera house and minus his ears, Norman did make one bit of news while producing pathetic answers on funding front.

This was an odd line to me for a series of eight, come-as-you go events for independent contractors.

“There are contracts, but I’m not going to give out any names on that,” Norman said when pressed on commitments to the league. He later said that invitations would be going out “very shortly.”

I get it that you need contract for your likeness and stuff, but here’s guessing the fine print deals with more than that. As in, a lack of independence.

As for the Saudi stuff, get your “grow the game” nonsense ready. But do chuckle when the Shark notes how the Saudis deep history of support for the game dates to 2019.

G.C. Digital wrote a summary of the pod and noted these lines:

“We’re not a political organization,” Norman said. “And what we’ve done and what the PIF have done and what Saudi Arabia has done, like I said to you before, golf is good for the world and golf is good with Saudi Arabia.”

He later added: “My passion for the game of golf and growing the game of golf is my priority. … This is all about the game of golf and growing the game of golf. I’m not even going to go down that path of trying to get into a political discussion about it. I’m focused on growing the game of golf the best way I possibly can. End of story.”

It’s also fascinating to hear him talk about the “long process” and “massive amount of effort to build this enterprise, including all the stuff with the lawyers. This would seem to be disregarding how the Saudi group stole the Premier Golf League’s playbook.

Anyway, if you’re doctors forbid hearing more than two “grow-the-games” in a day, this isn’t for your. But the full pod is below. This portion on Saudi Arabia reminded me why I miss seeing Gary Williams on TV and my old Monday chats with him:

Norman also gave an interview to CNN’s Amanda Davies and delivered similar grow-the-game broken recordspeak.

"We're here to grow the game of golf. Money from Saudi Arabia has gone into the game of golf and since 2019, Saudi Arabia has put on the Saudi International," the 67-year-old said.

"That was co-sanctioned by the European Tour, now the DP World Tour. So the money's been there and the other tours have co-sanctioned these tournaments by Saudi money. Golf is good for the world and golf is good for Saudi Arabia too. We've seen it.

"Saudi Arabia has invested a lot of money into women's golf. They're the largest investor in women's golf today. So when you look at all the facts sitting out there, yes, our investor is Saudi money. I'm proud of that because, like I said, golf is good for the world and we're just going to grow the game of golf on a worldwide basis."

What an amazing fall for the living brand.