The Saudi-backed Super Golf League picked up a ton of momentum in February, with reports indicating that some of the PGA Tour's greatest golfers were prepared to accept lucrative offers to join the rival association. Chairman Greg Norman, a former world no. 1 in the PGA, faced backlash from his former league, which threatened players with a lifetime ban if they jumped ship to join the Super Golf League. PGA Tour star Phil Mickelson made some appalling comments about the Saudi-backed league, which prompted the six-time major winner to step away from the game. Norman made some shocking comments about Mickelson on Monday, as reported by Golf Week.
“We had enough players in our strength of field, or minimal viable product, ready to come on board,” Norman said. “And when all of that happened, everybody got the jitters, and the PGA Tour threatened people with lifetime bans and stuff like that.”
“There’s no question (Mickelson’s comments) hurt,” Norman said. “It hurt a lot of aspects. It hurt the PGA Tour. It hurt us. It hurt the game of golf. It hurt Phil. So yeah, across all fronts. It wasn’t just specifically to us. But it definitely created negative momentum against us.”
Norman said that plenty of PGA Tour players backed out of the Super Golf League when they were threatened with lifetime bans. However, the former star also said that Mickelson's comments, while hurting everyone involved, created “negative momentum” against the league.
Not only did it shed some light on the ugly aspects of the rival golf league, but it also demonstrated the kind of backlash PGA Tour players would face if they chose to join the league. According to Norman, 15 of the world's top 100 players had signed up for the league's first event.
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