LIV Golf is reportedly searching for a new CEO, in an effort to replace retired Australian champion Greg Norman.
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, LIV’s main backer, aims to add a new CEO, chief legal officer, and chief revenue officer to the tour, according to Sports Business Journal.
Norman would likely remain in LIV’s senior leadership. He has helmed LIV Golf since its inception in 2021.
The PIF is allegedly seeking an executive from elsewhere in the sports world, having hired British firm Odgers Berndtson for the search. U.S. Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark is among the executives reportedly contacted, though those discussions did not progress.
LIV Golf is in talks to merge with the PGA Tour. Negotiations have stalled in recent months, as the tours initially planned to resolve the merger at the end of 2023.
In September, LIV and PGA officials met to discuss transferring US$1 billion from the PIF into the PGA Tour’s new for-profit enterprise, but did not finalise a deal.
However, former world #1 Jon Rahm previously said Norman may need to step down for merger talks to progress.
"I do believe that, for conversations to take place, Greg might need to be gone,” Rahm said in 2022. "I think Greg has had a vendetta against the PGA Tour for a long time. And when you have an ulterior motive, it can cloud your judgment a little bit.”
Tiger Woods also called for Norman to exit that year, saying "Greg has to go, first of all,” before a merger could be resolved.
Rahm signed to LIV last December, while Woods is affiliated with the PGA Tour.