'We've all made mistakes,' says golf great Greg Norman of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi's murder

By Amy Woodyatt, David Close and CNN Sport staff, CNN

Updated 1223 GMT (2023 HKT) May 12, 2022

Chief executive of LIV Golf Investments Greg Norman speaks during a press conference in St Albans on May 11.

(CNN)Golf great Greg Norman has appeared to downplay the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi ahead of the newSaudi-backed LIV Golf professional series.

«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 at a LIV Golf event at Centurion Club in St. Albans, England. Norman is LIV Golf chairman.«Look, we've all made mistakes and you just want to learn by those mistakes and how you can correct them going forward,» Norman said, according to news organizations in the UK.A US intelligence report named Mohammed bin Salman, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, as responsible for approving the operation that led to the 2018 murder of Khashoggi — something bin Salman denies.Jamal Khashoggi was murdered in 2018.The country's human rights record is also widely criticized: political dissidents, human and women's rights activists, journalists and online critics have historically been harassed, detained, prosecuted and incarcerated for denouncing the Saudi government, according to Amnesty International and other international human rights groups.Read More«I haven't had a personal conversation with MBS, I've never met the guy, but at the same time I do read that the Saudi government has made their statements and comments about it and they want to move forward,» Norman said Wednesday.Norman has previously said that the lucrative Saudi Arabia-backed golf league is a «new opportunity» for players and the