Greg Norman lobbies for LIV Golf during Congressional visit, gets mixed reviews

LIV Golf CEO and commissioner Greg Norman met with federal lawmakers on Capitol Hill on Wednesday to lobby on behalf of the new circuit being financed by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, and his message was met with mixed reviews from politicians.

Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee told ESPN that he walked out of Norman's lunch meeting with the Republican Study Committee and described his lobbying efforts as «propaganda.» He also took to Twitter to question Saudi Arabia's connections to the 9/11 attacks and its role in the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, a U.S. citizen.

«It's propaganda,» Burchett said of Norman's meeting. «I don't want to hear about that. It's not Congress' business to settle a fight between a bunch of billionaires over a game of golf. They need to take it to the courts. Congress made a big mistake by getting involved in Major League Baseball. Here we are dealing with a [league] being funded by some Saudis. I just thought our priorities were out of whack.»

Norman told reporters after the lunch meeting that he wanted lawmakers to have «both sides of the story for them to understand what LIV is all about,» according to a report from The Hill.

«Don't come in here and act like you're doing some great thing, while you're pimping a billion dollars of Saudi Arabian money,» Rep. Chip Roy of Texas told reporters after the lunch meeting.

«I respect Greg and his [right] to go out and do whatever he wants to do,» Roy told ESPN on Wednesday. «But it's not as simple as he tries to make it out to be. He says they just want competition, and it's like there are hummingbirds and butterflies flying around everywhere. The big, bad PGA Tour and its monopoly are preventing them from having their