LIV boss Norman says ‘long list’ of players want to join rebel tour

Thursday, 20 April 2023 00:30 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Greg Norman

ADELAIDE, AFP: LIV Golf boss Greg Norman says “a long list” of players want to join the rebel tour, as Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson on Wednesday conceded it would benefit from more depth.

Norman, who is preparing for the Saudi-backed circuit’s first event in his Australian homeland this week, said some of the names would “surprise” people.

“We’ve got a long list of players who want to come in, we just don’t have the ability today because players are under contract,” he told NewsCorp Australia, without giving names.

“But we’ll get to a position where there will be a relegation series and places will start opening up.

“It’s incredible the amount of players who want to come on board,” he added. “It would surprise you how good those names are.” Bankrolled by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, LIV split the golf world last year by luring away top stars from the US PGA Tour and DP World Tour (formerly the European Tour) with lucrative contracts to its 54-hole, no-cut experiment.

Now in its second season, it has faced resistance from traditionalists and struggled for credibility in the United States, in particular. Campaigners accuse Saudi Arabia of “sportswashing” – using sport to deflect from its human rights record, including the murder and dismembering of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in its Istanbul consulate in 2018.

But LIV looks to have been embraced by some Australians, with tickets selling out for this week’s event in Adelaide.

Koepka, runner-up at the Masters two weeks ago, and current British Open champion Cameron Smith are among the top names who have defected to LIV. They headline the action at The Grange Golf Club this week.

Phil Mickelson, who tied for second with Koepka at Augusta, and Dustin Johnson also jumped ship to LIV, as did Patrick Reed, who finished fourth at the Masters.