Rory McIlroy Says Greg Norman 'Needs to Go' for PGA Tour, LIV to Reach Compromise

Rory McIlroy is calling for the ouster of LIV Golf commissioner Greg Norman as a condition of LIV and the PGA Tour working together moving forward.

"There's a few things that I would like to see on the LIV side that needs to happen," McIlroy told reporters. "I think Greg needs to go. I think he just needs to exit stage left. He's made his mark, but I think now is the right time to sort of say, 'Look, you've got this thing off the ground, but no one is going to talk unless there's an adult in the room that can actually try to mend fences.'"

Norman has been the public face of LIV Golf since its outset, serving as president and commissioner. He's also been a vocal critic of the PGA Tour business practices, stoking tensions between the competing golf leagues.

LIV Golf and several of its golfers have an ongoing lawsuit against the PGA Tour, alleging unfair business practices. The PGA Tour has countersued LIV Golf, saying it coaxed players into breaching existing contracts. Norman has been among the leaders in attempting to woo stars to LIV with massive signing bonuses.

"It's obviously been a very contentious year in golf," McIlroy said. "And I've said this: The best thing in golf is to have all the best players playing together, and what's happening right now, that's not happening. So I fear for the game when that's going on.

"It's contentious because there's lawsuits going on and people suing people; it's very, very messy. So again, if all that stuff can be sorted out one way or the other, then you can get to the stage where there's forgiveness and people can have dialogue and come to some sort of common ground or compromise. But while all this is happening, it's very hard to do that."

Rumors recently persisted that LIV Golf was considering replacing Norman with Taco Bell CEO Mark King, although that was denied by Majed Al Sorour, the CEO of the Saudi Golf Federation.

LIV Golf is funded by the Saudi Public Investment Fund. The league has been accused of being an attempt to "sportswash" the human rights atrocities committed by the Saudi Arabian government.