Greg Norman knocks 'firestorm' over Saudi-backed golf tour

Former pro golfer Greg Norman is defending his newly launched professional golf tour, LIV Golf, saying the “firestorm” surrounding the Saudi-backed group isn’t fair. 

In an interview with USA Today published Wednesday, Norman blasted criticism of the new tour, which is in a war with the PGA, the main organizer of professional golf competitions in the United States.

He noted that other leagues also do business with Saudi Arabia.

“Shame on (those) who create this firestorm of controversy when you look within their own system when they got 23-odd sponsors who do $40-plus billion dollars of business with Saudi Arabia,” Norman told USA Today. “C'mon, seriously? If you're going to go down this path just be ready to accept you're going to get some stuff coming back your way. And it's not hard to find it.” 

Norman said that LIV Golf being a Saudi-backed golf tour is a nonfactor, noting that this wouldn’t have been an issue if a U.S.-based hedge fund backed the league financially. 

“If it was a hedge fund out of New York, would it be any different?” the 67-year-old CEO asked. “Maybe, because it was U.S. money. I can't answer that question because it's not the case. But I will say, the business model, because it's disrupting a monopolist, it would have happened.” 

A number of golfers have defected from the PGA to join LIV Golf. Tiger Woods, perhaps the world's best-known golfer, this week said he “disagrees” with the player movement. 

“I think that what they’ve done is they’ve turned their back on what has allowed them to get to this position,” he said of those leaving the PGA for LIV.

The PGA Tour on Monday acknowledged that the Department of Justice launched an investigation into their organization over allegations of anti-competitive behavior, which comes after the organization earlier this year declined some players' release form requests to participate in LIV Golf’s inaugural tournament. 

In response to the high-profile defections, the PGA Tour has fined or banned golfers who have joined the Saudi-backed golfing league, which included Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka, and Bryson DeChambeau. 

Norman told USA Today that he hopes that both golfing leagues can form a merger in the near future, adding that the sport of golf will be in a much better place if that happens.