Greg Norman and Saudis can't be allowed to think they are bigger than golf

Having been invited on both occasions by the tournament promoters, I attended the first two stagings of the Saudi International, even though I know some of my colleagues - my oldest daughter, too - were unimpressed due to the country’s human rights record.

Greg Norman has been named as the CEO of LIV Golf Investments, which is backed by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund.

I did so because it was a European Tour event featuring some of the world’s top players, not to mention a healthy Scottish contingent on both occasions, and I felt prepared to give it a chance, just as some of my predecessors in this business had done when the likes of Dubai and Qatar became new destinations on the circuit.

On both trips, I was made to feel very welcome and, as has been the case on golfing travels over the years, it was a real experience, for instance, to see people flocking to Mecca totally unaware that Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau were in action on the other side of Jeddah in King Abdullah Economic City.

I was intrigued to sit down on my first visit with Yasir Al Rumayyan, the head of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, and hear how it planned to try and grow the game, as was the case with in a later telephone chat with Majed Al Sorour, the CEO of Saudi Golf.

It was through those dealings with Golf Saudi that I was invited to join a conference call with Greg Norman on Friday about him now having been signed up as the CEO of LIV Golf Investments, which is set to stage 10 new events worth over $200 million that are being hailed as “only the beginning” by the Australian.

Due to a company policy about Non Disclosure Agreements, I declined that opportunity and, unfortunately, the Saudi International has lost its appeal from my working perspective through it no longer being part of the European Tour and now sitting on the Asian Tour schedule instead.

Full details of those other 10 events have still to be released and, while a burgeoning Asian Tour can certainly be good for the game’s long-term future, golf as a sport will be the big loser if we are about to enter an era where we see lawyers fighting to releases for players from either the PGA Tour or European Tour, both of which, incidentally, are right to standing their ground.

Let’s hope that Greg Norman and the Saudis do, indeed, intend to be “cooperative” and a “respectful supporter of the game at every level” because golf is bigger than any individual or group of individuals.

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