LIV Golf CEO and commissioner Greg Norman stated Tuesday that he has been requested to not attend the QBE Shootout, an occasion he based and has hosted since 1989.
The 54-hole competitors between two-man groups shall be held on the Norman-designed Gold Course at Tiburon Golf Membership in Naples, Florida, on Dec. September 11.
“Sadly, after 33 consecutive years of taking part in in and internet hosting each Shootout match — a co-sanctioned PGA Tour occasion — since I based it in 1989, this 12 months I’ve been requested to not attend,” Norman wrote on Instagram. “Why one may ask? Maybe it’s as a result of I’m serving to to present golf a brand new heartbeat, creating new worth and delivering a brand new product that’s liked by gamers, followers and broadcasters alike. And in doing so, lastly giving gamers their rights as impartial contractors to learn from their efficiency and model. In some individuals’s thoughts that is too disruptive and evolution is perceived as a nasty factor. I disagree – competitors breeds excellence.”
QBE Shootout director Rob Hartman stated the match had been speaking to Norman about his position for months.
“As we bought shut, finally the choice was made that he was going to step again and actually let the main target stay on our large charitable companions,” Hartman advised the Naples Each day Information. “When he began this occasion 34 years in the past, it was all about charity then and it is all about charity now. Greg simply made the choice that he did not need something to distract from that.”
In July, the R&A determined to not invite two-time winner Norman to the one hundred and fiftieth Open Championship celebration at St. Andrews. The R&A stated it hoped that Norman would be capable of attend once more sooner or later “when circumstances enable.”
LIV Golf, financed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Funding Fund, joined a handful of its gamers as a plaintiff in a federal antitrust lawsuit towards the PGA Tour final month. The plaintiffs have accused the PGA Tour of improperly suspending golfers for enjoying in LIV Golf occasions, and unlawfully utilizing its monopoly energy to squash competitors.
“Change is nice,” Norman wrote Tuesday. “Evolution and innovation of the skilled golf product has been wanted for many years — simply ask the subsequent era of golf followers.”
In line with Norman, the QBE Shootout has raised greater than $15 million for charities.
“These charities, their missions and the monetary advantages they obtain from Shootout match donations annually is of the utmost significance to me and my household,” Norman wrote. “As such, I’ve determined to not attend this 12 months’s occasion so the main target can stay on the missions at hand.”
Norman based the match, then referred to as the RMCC Invitational, at Sherwood Nation Membership in Thousand Oaks, California. It was later referred to as the Shark Shootout and moved to Naples in 2001.
On the 1994 Shark Shootout, Norman met with PGA Tour gamers behind closed doorways to debate his idea for a brand new World Tour. The plan included the highest 30 to 40 gamers competing in eight occasions with $3 million purses. He reportedly had secured a 10-year dedication from Fox to televise the tournaments. Norman’s proposed league by no means bought off the bottom.
On the time, the PGA Tour stated in an announcement that it might block its members from competing in World Tour occasions “by imposing our tv launch and conflicting occasions rules.”
