Norman under threat as CEO as LIV Golf looks to King; five Irish at Q-School
Greg Norman
Greg Norman's days as CEO of LIV Golf could be numbered with one of the most respected figures in the golf business in talks with the head of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment fund.
American Mark King, the former CEO of Taylormade, and a man who has attended several LIV events this season, has met with Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of the Saudi Public Investment Fund, according to the Daily Telegraph.
King (60) was a huge success at TaylorMade and as president of Adidas in North America, where he tripled sales in four years. Currently CEO of Taco Bell, he's publicly stated he believes LIV Golf will be part of the eco-system within five years.
Norman has been effective as a noisy and disruptive voice in LIV's first year, but with the circuit set to become a 14-event league next year and pressure on team captains to attract sponsors to their franchises and sell merchandise, a less gaffe-prone golf business figure may be required to steer LIV Golf through a crucial phase after the Saudis have already committed more than $2bn to the venture.
Meanwhile, Gary Hurley believes he can deal with the "noise" and challenge for his DP World Tour card as he begins the gruelling 90-hole Qualifying School marathon in Spain today.
The West Waterford man (29) is one of five Irish former Walker Cup players in the 156-man field bidding to finish in the top 25 and ties awarded cards after six rounds.
"Everybody gets ahead of themselves," Hurley admitted. "But it's what you do next that counts. You've got to accept that you're excited and nervous about what's to come and that's okay."
He's joined at Infinitum in Tarragona by Clandeboye's Jonathan Caldwell (38), Kinsale's John Murphy (24) and his 2015 Walker Cup teammates Paul Dunne (29) and Cormac Sharvin (30), as well as former Ryder Cup players David Howell and Stephen Gallacher and tour winners such as Alvaro Quiros, Marcel Siem, Tom Lewis and Oliver Fisher.
In Sun City, New Zealander Ryan Fox boosted his chances of denying Rory McIlroy his fourth DP World Tour Rankings title when he opened with an eight-under 64 to lead the Nedbank Golf Challenge by a shot from European Ryder Cup skipper Luke Donald.
A win would see him overtake McIlroy at the tip of the rankings, heading into next week's DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.
McIlroy could also lose the world number one ranking to Scottie Scheffler if the American wins this week's Cadence Bank Houston Open. But the Masters champion opened with a level par 70 that left him five shots behind early leaders Alex Noren and Aaron Wise at Memorial Park.
