“He judged us on other people’s thoughts and opinions” - Greg Norman thanks Rory McIlroy for acknowledging LIV Golf's value

Greg Norman has welcomed Rory McIlroy's change in thinking about LIV Golf. Norman opined that McIlroy judged the rival PGA Tour circuit "on other people's thoughts and opinions."

Greg Noman's response was not long in coming. This Thursday (January 4), the CEO of LIV Golf gave an interview to the podcast "Fairway to Heaven," in which he offered his opinions about what Rory McIlroy said hours earlier.

Here is part of what Greg Norman had to say (via NUCLR GOLF):

“I’ve got to be honest with you – I’m very appreciative of what Rory said. It’s been a painful couple of years. What we have done is been consistent. Our narrative has been consistent. Our delivering mechanism has been consistent."

"The reason I say I appreciate Rory to fall on his sword to some degree is the fact that he did judge us by not knowing the facts. He judged us on other people’s thoughts and opinions."

"We wanted to sit down from day one with them to completely make them understand the value of the LIV footprint, business model and the impact it can make on the game of golf."

"I say ‘hey thank you Rory’. We all knew it was going to work within the golf ecosystem. We all want to be there, we are going to be there – he said that. To me, this is a significant turning point for everybody."

Rory McIlroy recently participated as a guest on Sky Sports' "Stick to Football" podcast. The Northern Irishman referred to LIV Golf in a very different way than he had done so far. He even endorsed Jon Rahm's decision to join the circuit.

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It is not the first time Greg Norman claims McIlroy was manipulated against LIV Golf

Greg Norman has had to face many opposing views since the birth of LIV Golf. One of the strongest opponents, until now, had been Rory McIlroy.

However, Greg Norman has drawn a dividing line between the phrases spoken by McIlroy and those of other opponents. In fact, Norman said more or less the same thing about McIlroy over a year ago as he did on Thursday.

In an interview given to The Washington Post, Norman said the Northern Irishman had been "brainwashed." That interview was published in June 2022, when LIV Golf had not even held its inaugural tournament.

Rory McIlroy was one of the staunchest opponents of LIV Golf and went so far as to say that Norman should step down as CEO after the agreement between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) was finalized.

However, he made a U-turn on Tuesday, saying it might even be "fun" to play LIV Golf if the tour adopted a schedule that spanned only two months of the year.