'We've all made mistakes' Greg Norman says of Saudi journalist's murder

Greg Norman batted away concerns over Saudi Arabia's rights record and the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi by saying "we've all made mistakes" as he defended his new money-spinning golf tour.

The Australian former world number one is heading the new multimillion-dollar LIV Golf Invitational Series which is heavily backed by Saudi financing and has sparked accusations of "sportswashing".

A United States intelligence assessment found that the Gulf kingdom's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, "approved" an operation to capture or kill critic and columnist Khashoggi.

Saudi officials deny this and say that his murder and dismemberment in the kingdom's Istanbul consulate in 2018 - which sparked worldwide outrage - was a "rogue" operation.

"This whole thing about Saudi Arabia and Khashoggi and human rights, talk about it, but also talk about the good that the country is doing in changing its culture," Norman said on Wednesday when grilled by reporters about Saudi involvement in the series, which starts in England next month.

"Look, we've all made mistakes and you just want to learn by those mistakes and how you can correct them going forward," the 67-year-old added.

The LIV series is threatening to tear golf apart.

Six-time major champion Phil Mickelson and former world number one Lee Westwood are among the high-profile players who want to be released from established tours to play the opening tournament near London.

The 54-hole event at Centurion Club in St Albans boasts an eye-watering prize fund of $25 million.

But the PGA Tour is refusing to give its players permission to take part and those who go ahead and play in the 9-11 June event would be deemed to be in violation of Tour regulations, opening the door to