Australian golfing large Greg Norman admits his task with LIV has outgo him galore adjacent relationships.
But he's adamant the determination to caput up the Saudi-backed league has been a success, and improved the lasting of the game's professionals astir the world.
Norman's poaching of a fig of the champion men's players from the PGA Tour - including Australia's Cameron Smith, who was satellite No.2 and caller disconnected an Open Championship triumph erstwhile helium defected - has torn the crippled successful 2 and sparked fiery run-ins connected the scope and successful tribunal rooms.
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The 68-year-old has agelong maintained helium has the champion interests of the players astatine heart, contempt dense ongoing disapproval from the likes of Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods.
In effect to LIV's monstrous offers - astir totalling tens of millions of dollars conscionable to motion connected - the PGA Tour has accrued prizemoney for a fig of events.
"Yes, we've gone and ruffled a fewer feathers. But we ruffled the feathers of a monopolist," Norman told the "People I (Mostly) Admire" podcast this week.
"A monopolist who fundamentally controlled the athletics for 53 years. I tried to marque a spot of a alteration backmost successful '93, '94 with the satellite circuit and again ran into the aforesaid headwinds backmost past arsenic what we're moving into now. So they don't similar change.
"They don't similar competition. To spot what's happened contiguous connected the PGA Tour, since LIV came onto the scene, a monolithic magnitude of superior was injected backmost into the players connected the PGA Tour.
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"So, to beryllium honorable with you, the players connected the PGA Tour should beryllium giving a lasting ovation to LIV, the league, and the players for stimulating this caller injection of money."
While Norman believes LIV has achieved what helium hoped it would, helium concedes it has ended relationships successful his idiosyncratic life.
"Some of my beloved friends don't adjacent talk to maine due to the fact that of this," helium said.
"That's their choice. If you don't privation to speech to maine again, blessed days."
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