Norman’s underwhelming LIV Golf launch offers no sign of revolution

Balls in the air, missives in the post. Thirty minutes of the inaugural LIV Golf event had been played when a bulletin from Ponte Vedra overshadowed anything that was about to happen at the Centurion Club. Greg Norman stands with the banned of the PGA Tour.

The Australian had been all smiles on the 1st tee as Dustin Johnson, Scott Vincent and Phil Mickelson appeared as the marquee group. Speaking before making his way on to the course, Norman admitted his desire to take on golf’s ecosystem had been something of a crusade. His action was guaranteed to prompt a PGA Tour reaction. It duly did.

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“I was sitting in the players’ lounge earlier, taking it all in, thinking ‘Oh my gosh, this is what it’s all about,’” Norman told the official broadcasters. “To see the players, to feel the caddies, to have the family members coming up to me. I said to all of them, ‘This is for you guys and the fans.’ We have been trying to get this thing off the ground for three decades.

“I just feel so happy for the players. I feel so happy that we have brought free agency to the game of golf. I’m proud for the game of golf. We are growing the game of golf.” And all with a straight face. Paying exorbitant, guaranteed sums to golfers is not growing anything. It also defies any basis of competition.

Norman’s claim – and this is a recurring one – that “free agency” has arrived in his sport is nonsensical. Players are beholden to LIV, their cheques and by extension the Saudi Arabian public investment fund which writes them. Show ponies in polo shirts and slacks. Norman is not marching forward on some altruistic mission. That he is being kept away from the mainstream media