Greg Norman thanks Rory McIlroy for 'falling on his sword' after 'painful years'

Greg Norman has thanked Rory McIlroy for softening his stance on how he views LIV Golf after 'a painful couple of years' in the men's game. 

Norman made the comments in the latest episode of LIV's Fairway to Heaven podcast. 

The Great White Shark and McIlroy, 34, have traded insults in public over the last two years. 

McIlroy got the ball rolling by making it clear when he won the 2022 Canadian Open his 21st career win was 'one more than someone else'. 

It was a clear shot at Norman's 20 titles on the PGA Tour and appeared to mark the beginning of a bitter feud. 

McIlroy later explained their rivalry actually began in February 2020 when he spoke out against what was then just referred to as an upstart league backed by Saudi oil money. 

The Northern Irishman said they had a 'testy exchange' where Norman was 'pretty condescending'. 

From that day onwards, McIlroy told of how he vowed to be a constant pain in Norman's arse. 

For his part, Norman has accused McIlroy of being 'brainwashed' by the PGA Tour. 

McIlroy previously said this comment was made after he reached out to Norman and told him how good his documentary was about his famous collapse at the 1996 Masters. 

"I'm like 'For f— sake!' We've had this really nice back-and-forth and he says that about me," McIlroy previous told GOLF.

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Now it appears we can let the healing truly begin after McIlroy revealed he was 'too judgemental' of golfers when they initially bolted to LIV. 

He has also made the stark admission he would consider being part of LIV should it turn into 'the IPL of golf'. 

Norman told the podcast: "I've got to be honest with you – I'm very appreciative of what Rory said. It's been a painful couple of years. What we have done is been consistent. Our narrative has been consistent. Our delivering mechanism has been consistent.

"The reason I say I appreciate Rory to fall on his sword to some degree is the fact that he did judge us by not knowing the facts. He judged us on other people's thoughts and opinions."

 

 

 

 

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Norman continued: "We wanted to sit down from day one with them to completely make them understand the value of the LIV footprint, business model and impact has and can made on the game of golf.

"I say, 'hey thank you Rory'. We all knew it was going to work within the golf ecosystem. We all want to be there, we are going to be there – he said that. To me, this is a significant turning point for everybody.

"In 22 events we have proven to all the Rory Mcllroys of the world that in that short time period, if we can have this much of an impact on the game of golf, imagine what we can do in 53 years like the PGA Tour does."

Read more:

• Brooks Koepka wastes no time in trolling Rory McIlroy after LIV Golf U-turn
• Rory McIlroy to LIV Golf mastermind: "What is it you want?!"
• PGA Tour pro sounds off on Rory and Tiger's crisis meeting: "A slap in the face"