Greg Norman Fires Back at PGA Tour With Letter To Commissioner, Accusing Jay Monahan of 'Bullying' And 'Threatening'

Norman writes to Monahan, contending that players who join a proposed Saudi league can't legally be banned from the Tour.

After a tumultuous week that saw several potential players in his proposed new league profess their allegiance to the PGA Tour, Greg Norman is pushing back with a letter to commissioner Jay Monahan in which he said “this is just the beginning. It is certainly not the end.’’

The two-time major champion, who is the CEO of LIV Golf Investments and the commissioner of a to-be-named rival league, sent a letter to Monahan in which he contends players can’t be banned from playing golf.

“Surely you jest,’’ the letter begins.

Norman, who for years has believed that professional golfers should not be subjected to playing restrictions and in the 1990s tried to start a World Golf Tour, wrote in response to Monahan’s stance stipulating players would have to choose between the two entities. If they go with LIV Golf, they would permanently lose their membership to the PGA Tour.

Related: Greg Norman Letter to Player States PGA Tour's Threat of Lifetime Bans is Not Enforceable

“For decades, I have fought for the rights of players to enjoy a career in which they are rewarded fully and properly for their efforts," Norman wrote. “They are one-in-a-million athletes. Yet for decades, the Tour has puts it own financial ambitions ahead of the players, and every player on the Tour knows it. The Tour is the Players Tour not your administration’s Tour. Why do you call the Crown Jewel in all tournaments outside the Majors “The Players Championship’’ and not “The Administration’s Championship?’’

“But when you try to bluff and intimidate players by bullying and threatening them, you are guilty of going too far, being unfair, and you are likely in violation of the law."

Norman said in the letter that he believes many players are interested in playing for his new league and the PGA Tour, a circumstance that Monahan is saying won’t be allowed.

“What is wrong with that?" Norman’s letter said.

The structure of the proposed new league has not been officially outlined, but the basic parameters include 14 tournaments, approximately 10 of which would be played in North America.

The events would be 54 holes, no cuts, with a team component and with $20 million purses. There would be 48 players with 12 four-man teams, and a significant number of those players would receive up-front guaranteed contracts in addition to the weekly prize money.

Norman suggests that a player who participates in the 14-tournament league should also have the right to play the PGA Tour, which requires 15 tournaments to be a member, and that includes the major championships for players who are eligible, as well as the Players Championship. (Non-members can play up to 12 events per year, but the Tour has said that members of the new league will not be permitted to play any of its events outside of the majors.)

In the letter, Norman said that a ban on players would trigger an anti-trust lawsuit and he cited an opinion piece by Alden Abbott, the former general counsel of the Federal Trade Commission.

“When you threaten to end players’ careers and when you engage in unfair labor practices with your web of player restrictions," Norman wrote, “you demonstrate exactly why players are open minded about joining a league that treats players well, respects them, and compensates them according to their true worth."

Norman concluded by saying “Commissioner — this is just the beginning. It is certainly not the end."