Greg Norman Tells Clay Travis Some Friendships Are Now Strained Because Of LIV Golf

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While the launch of LIV Golf may be going smoothly from a financial standpoint, that doesn't mean it's been a complete walk in the park for CEO Greg Norman.

The Aussie has plenty of personal ties within the traditional golf world. Heading up a new-look golf league that's a direct competitor to the PGA Tour, a tour he won on 20 times, isn't exactly going to go over well with the acquaintances he's made over the years.

Norman of course knew he'd be burning some personal bridges when he joined LIV, but he didn't necessarily expect his so-called "friends" to tell him that he was ruining his legacy with the launch of LIV Golf.

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OutKick founder Clay Travis was able to sit down with Norman at Trump Bedminster and he elaborated on what's saddened him the most throughout this process. He also responded to everyone saying "you're ruining your legacy."

"What's saddened a little bit about all this are my friends who haven't called me up and asked what my business model is," Norman told Travis. "I'm talking about businessmen and women, and they'll come and arbitrarily say 'you're ruining your legacy.'"

"Do you understand what's really going on, do you understand what the LIV business model really is," Norman says as his response to his so-called friends. "Don't judge me. Don't judge me and my legacy on information you don't know. That saddens me about the whole thing."

While Norman made it clear that he's received criticism from people he would have considered inside his circle of friends, many of the doubters have changed their viewpoint on the whole thing.

"Most of the people who had an opposed view nine months ago, six months ago, I've seen them switch. Why have they done a 180? The product is speaking for itself. They're hearing about the players, the wives, caddies, seeing networks, the commercial side, and CEOs want to come and see what we're doing."

"All of the sudden, this paradigm shift has gone from one way to another because they're starting understand what the product is."

LIV Golf recently wrapped up its third event at Trump Bedminster in New Jersey where Henrik Stenson earned the win and claimed a $4 million check in the process. There are five more LIV Golf events set to take place this season before a 14 tournament schedule gets underway in 2023.

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Follow Mark Harris on Twitter @ItIsMarkHarris

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Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the PGA Tour, LIV Golf, and all other happenings in the world of golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.