“Augusta National recognized that” – Greg Norman lauds LIV Golf for Masters’ ‘massive’ ratings increase

Greg Norman has lauded LIV Golf for its role in boosting the 2023 Masters' viewership. The final round of the 2023 Masters had massive ratings jump compared to last year. Over 15 million people watched Jon Rahm bag the title and wear the green jacket. The fourth round of the event averaged 12.058 million viewers. This was significantly higher than Scottie Scheffler’s win last year.

Following this, LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman has now come out to laud his series for the same. The Aussie golfer-turned-CEO was speaking at a press conference in Adelaide on Thursday when he credited LIV for the increase in Masters viewership. Praising his Saudi-backed series for the achievement, Norman claimed that the Augusta National “recognized” the tour’s protentional and utilized it at the prestigious event.

Speaking about LIV Golf’s role at The Masters, Greg Norman said, as quoted by Golf:

“I do hope there gets to a position where there is resolution to this, because the game of golf doesn’t need to suffer. These guys don’t need to suffer. OWGR doesn’t need to suffer. Augusta National recognized that, and look what happened with their ratings when the LIV players came in. It was up 19 percent. Who was the benefactor of that? Augusta National, right?”

It is pertinent to note that the 2023 Masters was the most-watched golf telecast on any network in the last five years.

Norman further added:

“LIV is the force for good, and now guys want to play. They want to play in the majors. You don’t think CBS, NBC, you don’t think the corporations that sponsor those major championships don’t want Cam Smith, the Open champion, in their major tournament? Of course they do. It’s a crying shame if they take their shallow view of, caused by LIV, where because of another product they’re going to ban these guys? Well, I think Augusta National proved that case point very clearly.”

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Greg Norman wants to 'sit down and talk' with the PGA Tour

Greg Norman is convinced that his breakaway tour benefited The Masters’ viewership. Despite this, the Aussie once again revealed that he wants to 'sit down and talk' with the PGA Tour. While the juicy PGA Tour vs. LIV storylines are adding to the sports’ entertainment factor, Norman wants to resolve the differences between the two sides.

Greg Norman said via Mirror:

"Yeah, maybe we should sit down and talk. It’s going to happen somehow and somewhere down the line. And why shouldn't it be sooner rather than later? They must realise by now that we aren’t going away.”

He also added that he knows LIV Golf is going to continue to grow. The rebel side leader added:

"We will continually keep going forwards. I have a list of players who want to join - names that will honestly surprise you - but there are contracts that have to be honoured and we will do this responsibly. We have relegation and promotion in place and it’s all going to plan. I think we’ll soon have world ranking points at our events, because otherwise those rankings become obsolete."

While the chances of a formal discussion between LIV Golf and PGA remain low, it’ll be interesting to see how the two sides react to the changing dynamics of the sport.