LIV Golf has undergone a lot of changes recently and is planning more in the future. And it sounds like one of those changes will involve a new leader at the top.
According to a report from Josh Carpenter of the Sports Business Journal, LIV Golf is looking to replace Greg Norman as CEO.
“A search has been ongoing in recent months to find a new CEO for LIV Golf, according to sources briefed on the matter. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which backs LIV financially, has contracted out London-based Odgers Berndtson for the search, which would take over for Greg Norman in the CEO role,” Carpenter wrote for the Sports Business Journal.
Carpenter reports that while the search has been going for months, it has intentionally been kept quiet.
According to the report, one of the candidates targeted by LIV Golf and the Public Investment fund was Big 12 Conference Commissioner Brett Yormark, but those talks did not progress.
While Norman is expected to be replaced as CEO, Carpenter reports that he is expected to remain with the Saudi-backed golf league in a senior leadership role.
In addition to the change in CEO, SBJ reports that LIV Golf is seeking a chief revenue officer and chief legal officer as well as some other executive roles.
This all comes as LIV Golf and the PGA Tour ponder a potential partnership agreement that could unite the two rival leagues in some way.
Replacing Norman as the CEO could be a big step toward this possible union as prominent golf stars including Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy have said that they think Norman would have to be removed from his role before the partnership between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf could move forward.
Needless to say, this would be a major change for LIV Golf as Norman has led the way for the Saudi-backed league from the beginning and played a major role in helping lure players from the PGA Tour.
We’ll have to see what the future holds for LIV Golf and Norman.
