Norman admits Mickelson comments hurt Saudi-backed tour

Greg Norman, a former two-time major championship winner who is fronting a new golf league backed by Saudi Arabian investors, confirmed that Phil Mickelson's recent comments complicated things for the upstart operation.

"There's no question (it) hurt," Norman told ESPN. "It hurt a lot of aspects. It hurt the PGA Tour. It hurt us. It hurt the game of golf. It hurt Phil. So yeah, across all fronts. It wasn't just specifically to us. But it definitely created negative momentum against us."

Norman is the CEO of the LIV Golf Invitational Series, formerly known as the Super Golf League. As the venture was trying to get rolling, comments from Mickelson published on 15 February, after a November interview with author Alan Shipnuck, caused a firestorm.

Mickelson referenced the killing of Washington Post reporter Jamal Khashoggi and called the Saudi Arabians "scary mother****** to get involved with." He went on to explain why he still had interest in joining the Saudi-backed league.

"(They) have a horrible record on human rights," Mickelson was said, according to Shipnuck. "They execute people over there for being gay. Knowing all of this, why would I even consider it? Because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reshape how the PGA Tour operates.

"They've been able to get by with manipulative, coercive, strong-arm tactics because we, the players, had no recourse."

Norman said that nearly one third of the top 50 players in the world were committed to playing in the new golf tour. When Mickelson's comments were revealed, many top players reaffirmed their commitment to playing on the PGA Tour.

"Quite honestly, we were ready to launch (in February)," Norman said to ESPN. "We had enough players in our strength of field, or minimal