Many of the world’s top golfers have distanced themselves from the Saudi-backed LIV Golf Invitational Series but Greg Norman said the lure of the huge prize purses on offer will prove too hard to resist.
The series released details of eight new tournaments in March, promising prize money of at least $250mn. The US-based PGA Tour has told it members they would be banned if they joined it. Several top players including Tiger Woods, Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas have expressed their allegiance to the PGA Tour, while Rory McIlroy has described the breakaway league as “dead in the water”.
Norman told The Telegraph, however, that the series was going ahead with or without them.
“Quite honestly, it doesn’t matter who plays, we’re going to put the event on,” said Norman, who is fronting the new circuit.
“There’s a $4mn first prize. I hope a kid who’s 350th in the world wins. It’ll change his life, his family’s life. And then a few of our events will go by and the top players will see someone winning $6mn, $8mn, and say ‘enough is enough, I know I can beat these guys week in week out with my hands tied behind my back.’”
The LIV Invitational series will launch at the Centurion Club near London the week before the US Open in June.

Couples, Zach Johnson named assistants for Presidents Cup
Fred Couples and Zach Johnson will serve as assistant captains for the US at the 2022 Presidents Cup, captain Davis Love III announced yesterday. Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte will host the event from Sept. 20-25.
Love is allowed to name up to two more assistants. Couples was a three-time captain (2009, 2011, 2013) and an assistant to captains Jay Haas, Steve Stricker and Tiger Woods in 2015, 2017 and 2019 respectively.
“It has been an honour to serve as captain’s assistant for the past three Presidents Cups, and I’m excited to partner with one of my closest friends in Davis Love to help the US Team retain the Cup in 2022,” Couples, 62, said. “Charlotte is an incredible sports city, and I’m confident the atmosphere at Quail Hollow will make for an amazing week of golf.”
As a player, Couples is a four-time Presidents Cup participant (1994, 1996, 1998, 2005) with an overall record of 9-5-2.
Johnson, 46, recently was named captain of Team USA for the 2023 Ryder Cup in Rome. He will be a Presidents Cup assistant for the second time after posting a 10-6-1 record as a player (2007, 2009, 2013, 2015).
“Having played for Davis in past international events, I know how passionate he is about creating a tremendous atmosphere for US Team players to have success, while also ensuring we are prepared to compete each day,” Johnson said. “I’m looking forward to doing all I can to help the team succeed in September.” Team USA, with Woods as captain, won the 2019 event at Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Australia, coming from behind on the final day to defeat the international team led by Ernie Els. The Presidents Cup was to be played in 2021 but was delayed a year because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

DeChambeau to have hand surgery
Bryson DeChambeau has elected to withdraw from this week’s Professional Long Drivers Association event in Florida, and reportedly for a significant reason.
Bobby Peterson, one of the owners of the association, said that DeChambeau will undergo surgery on his left hand.
DeChambeau, the 2020 US Open champion, said he aggravated his hand injury playing table tennis in Saudi Arabia while there to compete in the Saudi International in early February.
He also admitted “some” of his injury struggles were worsened by training for a long-drive competition last fall. DeChambeau, 28, missed the cut in three of his past four starts, including at last week’s Masters.
He has dropped to 19th in the Official World Golf Ranking.