Former professional golfer Greg Norman says criticism of his Saudi-backed golf league isn't fair.
The LIV Golf Invitational, funded primarily by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, is scheduled to have its inaugural event next month outside London.
Norman, the CEO of LIV and two-time champion, is facing backlash for his recent comments about his league in the wake of the killing of Saudi Arabian journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
"Everybody has owned up to it, right?" Norman said to London newspaper The Times, adding, "It has been spoken about, from what I've read, going on what you guys reported. Take ownership, no matter what it is."
"Look, we've all made mistakes and you just want to learn from those mistakes and how you can correct them going forward," Norman said.
The PGA Tour denied its members permission to play in the tournament and has fined or banned golfers who have joined the league, including Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka, and Bryson DeChambeau, a move that led to the Department of Justice launching an investigation into their organization over allegations of anti-competitive behavior.
"Shame on (those) who create this firestorm of controversy when you look within their own system when they got 23-odd sponsors who do $40-plus billion dollars of business with Saudi Arabia," Norman told USA Today. "C'mon, seriously? If you're going to go down this path just be ready to accept you're going to get some stuff coming back your way. And it's not hard to find it."
Norman said the criticism wouldn't be the same if it was a hedge fund out of New York.
"Would it be any different?" the 67-year-old CEO asked. "Maybe, because it was U.S. money. I can't answer that question because it's not the case. But I will say, the business model, because it's disrupting a monopolist, it would have happened."
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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