(Reuters) – World number one Rory McIlroy said LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman must step down from his position immediately as golf’s tours need an “adult in the room” to help end the stalemate in their feud.
LIV Golf has lured away some of the U.S.-based PGA Tour’s top players with huge sums of money, leading to a simmering feud within the sport. The players competing in the breakaway series have been suspended from the PGA Tour.
LIV has filed a lawsuit accusing the PGA Tour of antitrust violations. The PGA Tour has filed a counterclaim. Attempts by Europe’s DP World Tour to suspend players have been unsuccessful with LIV golfers still eligible to compete at its showcase events pending a court hearing next year. Speaking to reporters before the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai, McIlroy said that “nothing will happen” as long as the lawsuits were ongoing.
“You’re limited in what you can do. I think from whatever happens with those two things, there’s a few things I’d like to see on the LIV side that needs to happen,” McIlroy said.
“Greg needs to go. He needs to exit stage left. He’s made his mark but now is the right time to say, look, you’ve got this thing off the ground but no one is going to talk unless there’s an adult in the room that can actually try to mend fences.
“If those two things happen, then things can happen. But right now, it’s a stalemate because there can’t be any other way. Hopefully, something can happen, who knows.”
Australian Norman, a former world number one, said in September that he was no longer prepared to negotiate with the PGA Tour.
Critics say LIV Golf, which is bankrolled by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, amounts to “sportswashing” by a nation trying to improve its reputation in the face of criticism over its human rights record.