‘He was so impressed’ – LIV Golf boss Greg Norman reveals he’s held talks with ‘top PGA Tour player in his house’

LIV Golf boss Greg Norman has admitted he has held talks with one PGA Tour star in his own house.

LIV Golf are constantly on the lookout for top golfers to expand their project, signing 2023 Masters champion Jon Rahm last year in a huge coup that saw him earn more than Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

But Norman, who is CEO of the Saudi-based LIV Golf league, has admitted that he spoke with one ‘top’ PGA Tour player.

While he revealed he was eventually turned down, the 69-year-old is confident that more big names will switch allegiances in the coming months.

Speaking ahead of the LIV event at Adelaide, Norman said: “It’s understanding the facts about what LIV represents and what LIV can deliver on a global basis. It’s up to you to determine it.

“I’ve sat down with one top, top PGA Tour player in his house with another member of my team, walking through the whole process, and he was so impressed.

“He said, ‘well, that’s not what we’re told in the locker room. This is really impressive.’

“But he made the decision, he told me up two days later and said, ‘I’ve decided to stay where I’m at’. I said, happy days. You made a decision on fact.

“If you’re happier over here, fine, stay there. Your door is always open; if you want to come back and have a conversation with us, happy to do that.”

Speculation has recently grown over whether Rory McIlroy, who has widely criticised LIV over the years, could make the jump.

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However, Norman shut down those rumours but insisted there are plenty more fish in the sea for ‘The Shark’ to take a bite at.

He added: “Look, I’ll make the comment if you look back over that time period of that dialogue that was going, there there wasn’t one comment about LIV.

“LIV never put an offer to him. We didn’t need to make a comment about this.

“This is just typical white noise that gets out there in the industry.

“If Rory was willing to sit down and have a conversation with us, would we be happy to sit down with him? 100 per cent, no different than any other player who would be interested in coming on and playing with us.”

Norman has also said LIV are open to switching their format to the traditional 72 holes.

LIV has focused much of its identity around the number 54 but extending their tournaments would likely boost their claim for world ranking points and gain more legitimacy.

Norman said: “I think from LIV’s perspective, we’re very open-minded about [moving to 72 holes]. But you’ve got to understand there’s economic impact about putting television on for 72 holes.

“It’s a great conversation to have. We will continue to have that conversation going forward.

“But we sit back and say, what value do we get on putting on television on Thursday? Now, how do we build out in the future? How do we get more people to the golf course? Maybe it is Thursday and you allow another 30,000 people coming in on a Thursday.”