Greg Norman Explains To Clay Travis Why Next Year Will Be 'Real Start Of LIV Golf'

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LIV Golf may only have three events under its belt, but it's already looking forward to next year's schedule with extremely high expectations.

The Saudi-backed circuit has created more momentum than most would have imagined so far in these early stages. Add in the fact that it's being backed by Saudi's very deep Public Investment Fund and it's easy to understand why LIV is already looking toward what lies ahead.

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LIV CEO Greg Norman joined OutKick founder Clay Travis for a sit-down at Trump Bedminster and explained the many reasons why next year is being looked at as "the real start" of LIV Golf.

"Next year is going to be the real start of it, because we are launching the league," Norman told Travis. There are 14 events, but more importantly, we're launching the franchises."

Not only do LIV Golf tournaments consist of an individual scoring aspect, but a team competition as well, which is what the Saudi-backed tour is hoping to take off. For any F1 fans out there, think about these golf teams as Team Ferrari or Team Mercedes, it's a very similar concept. Each LIV Golf team consists of four players.

"We've got 12 principle players (teams) and they'll have their teams up and running. Now we're in a startup mode, we're beta testing the team model," Norman explained.

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"Because of the success, even in the first two events, the success was there so we had to accelerate it. We had an executive meeting a week ago and said 'we've got to launch the league next year.'"

And that's exactly what LIV did. It announced both the LIV Golf League and LIV Golf International Series just last week. The LIV Golf League will consist of a 14 tournament schedule with players competing for a total purse of $405 million.

"I'm more excited about next year because we're actually launching the league. I'm so excited about the players understanding the true value of what their franchise is going to be and what it could be. Not just next year, but start looking two, three, four, five, six years down the line, it's a massive opportunity."

"Look at the franchise value of any league...A lot of people ask me if team golf will be successful, just look at all the other sports leagues."

The 2023 LIV Golf League schedule will not compete with majors, international team events, or heritage events.

GREG NORMAN, CLAY TRAVIS DISCUSS ALL THINGS LIV GOLF IN OUTKICK EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

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.