Norman On Five Clubs Pod: Grow The Game, Grow The Game, Grow The Game

Unlike the bubbly bro massage he received on Golf.com’s Subpar podcast, LIV Golf Commish Greg Norman faced real questions on Gary Williams’ Five Clubs podcast where he was pressed about that beheading-prone guy controlling the purse strings of Norman’s 8-event schedule.

Sitting in front of the Sydney Opera House minus his ears, Norman made one bit of news while producing pathetic answers on funding front.

First the news. This was an odd line to me for a series of eight, come-as-you go events for independent contractors.

“There are contracts, but I’m not going to give out any names on that,” Norman said when pressed on commitments to the league. He later said that invitations would be going out “very shortly.”

Contracts but invitations have not gone out. Interesting. Also, I get it that you need contract for to give away your likeness and stuff, but here’s guessing the fine print mentions more than that. As in, a lack of independence as a contractor.

Regarding the Saudi stuff, get ready for some robust “grow the game” nonsense. But do chuckle when the Shark notes the Saudi’s deep history of support for the game. You know dating to 2019.

G.C. Digital wrote a summary of the pod and noted these lines:

“We’re not a political organization,” Norman said. “And what we’ve done and what the PIF have done and what Saudi Arabia has done, like I said to you before, golf is good for the world and golf is good with Saudi Arabia.”

He later added: “My passion for the game of golf and growing the game of golf is my priority. … This is all about the game of golf and growing the game of golf. I’m not even going to go down that path of trying to get into a political discussion about it. I’m focused on growing the game of golf the best way I possibly can. End of story.”

It’s also fascinating to hear him talk about the “long process” and “massive amount of effort to build this enterprise, including all the stuff with the lawyers, blah, blah, blah. This would seem to be disregarding how the Saudi group unashamedly stole the Premier Golf League’s playbook they were once a funder of.

Anyway, if you’re doctor forbids you from hearing more than two “grow-the-games” a day, this isn’t for you. Here is the portion on Saudi Arabia that’s so telling (full pod embedded farther down or wherever you get your pods):

Norman also gave an interview to CNN’s Amanda Davies and delivered similar grow-the-game broken recordspeak.

"We're here to grow the game of golf. Money from Saudi Arabia has gone into the game of golf and since 2019, Saudi Arabia has put on the Saudi International," the 67-year-old said.

"That was co-sanctioned by the European Tour, now the DP World Tour. So the money's been there and the other tours have co-sanctioned these tournaments by Saudi money. Golf is good for the world and golf is good for Saudi Arabia too. We've seen it.

"Saudi Arabia has invested a lot of money into women's golf. They're the largest investor in women's golf today. So when you look at all the facts sitting out there, yes, our investor is Saudi money. I'm proud of that because, like I said, golf is good for the world and we're just going to grow the game of golf on a worldwide basis."

What an amazing fall for the living brand.