From Golf 296, Greg Norman (left) and Atul Khosla were the driving forces behind LIV Golf’s first year. Senior official Atul Khosla’s sudden departure from LIV Golf is the latest twist in an ongoing saga that has rocked men’s professional golf in 2022 like never before.
As a result of Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy’s requests for LIV’s chief executive Greg Norman to step down, Khosla’s unexpected resignation as chief operating officer of the lucrative breakaway circuit this month follows.
The drama indicates that things are pulling back. Unprecedented levels of controversies, hostility, and uncertainty have resulted from the introduction of this Saudi Arabia-funded circuit.This is very different from how things usually work in the golf game, which seems to run smoothly and peacefully.
‘The LIV Golf story: Billions, birdies, and bust-ups, which is available on BBC Sounds, tracks these remarkable developments.
The story of LIV Golf: Billions, birdies, and bust-ups The program features interviews with key LIV project participants and journalists who have been most closely involved with the story.
When the controversy erupted in the early part of 2022, it resulted in the likes of Open champion Cameron Smith defecting from the status quo and PGA Championship winner Phil Mickelson turning from hero to pariah.
However, I trusted what the guys had to say out here. I trusted Greg Norman and his staff because of their approach and vision when I spoke with them.while golfers such as Kaymer, Ian Poulter, and Lee Westwood’s status on the European-based DP World Tour will be the subject of legal proceedings in February, LIV players have been suspended from the PGA Tour on an indefinite basis.
I can all around well live with the outcomes since I have accomplished more than I at any point expected in my profession Kaymer claims.
The 37-year-old believes that LIV golfers should continue to have access to major events like The Open, Masters, US Open, and PGA Championship, which are only open to players from the United States and Europe.
However, there are ardent opponents, such as Woods and McIlroy, as well as tour hierarchy members who are of the firm opinion that the opposite ought to be the case.With its 54-hole shotgun start format, LIV, according to fans at the season-ending team championship in Florida, is definitely what the golf world needed.
The former president of the United States, whose courses have hosted two LIV events thus far, stated to the show that he is a huge fan. He said, you know, it’s unlimited money, as music played throughout his Miami-based Doral Blue Monster course.
The Saudis have done an excellent job, and they really enjoy golf. You can hear the music and the different enthusiasm.Trump, who is running for president of the United States once more in 2024, added: The tour handled it so badly that something could be resolved in the end.
The program hears from recreational golfer Pat McCabe, who expresses opposition to LIV and cites Saudi Arabia’s ties to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018, and the Kingdom’s track record with regard to women’s rights.
However, a report published last week in the New York Times stated that recruitment has so far fallen short of what will be required to make the project viable.