PGA Tour-PIF talks eyed Greg Norman's ouster, Tiger Woods-owned LIV team - ESPN

PGA Tour officials pushed to oust Greg Norman as the CEO and commissioner of the LIV Golf League during its negotiations with the DP World Tour and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), which proposed that Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy own LIV teams, according to documents released by the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.

The documents released by the subcommittee, which began a hearing Tuesday regarding the planned alliance, also suggested that McIlroy met with Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund, in Dubai in November.

McIlroy, who as a member of the PGA Tour Policy Board has a vote on whether the proposed partnership will ultimately go through, had not publicly disclosed his meeting with Al-Rumayyan.

A May 25 side letter to the framework agreement proposed by the PGA Tour called for Norman and Performance54, a London-based marketing and consultant group that took control of the LIV Golf League's management this season, to step down once the proposed partnership is finalized. According to the subcommittee, its inquiry «has not yet revealed whether this side agreement was ever executed» by PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, DP World Tour CEO Keith Pelley and Al-Rumayyan.

Monahan's draft of talking points for the PGA Policy Board while announcing the deal noted that «Norman will be assigned to an advisory role determined by PIF when the PGA Tour becomes the manager of the LIV Tour.»

Norman, a two-time Open winner, has told his staff and players that the LIV Golf League is a standalone entity and that he is planning to play in 2024 and beyond.

As part of its investigation, the subcommittee uncovered a series of emails sent between PGA Tour Policy Board chairman