LIV Golfing government resigns just after a year on the job

The former Tampa Bay Buccaneers govt employed to be the chief working officer of LIV Golf has resigned just after a single year as the Saudi-backed rival circuit moves towards a league format, The New York Situations described.

Atul Khosla was predicted to direct LIV Golf into its franchise model of 12 4-person teams in which players and the LIV Golf League would have fairness.

Players and brokers were being informed previously this week Khosla meant to move down. LIV commissioner Greg Norman confirmed the information Friday in a assertion to The Periods.

“At the summary of LIV’s profitable inaugural season, Atul Khosla made the decision to shift on,” Norman stated. “We regard A.K. and his personalized final decision.”

LIV Golf did not promptly answer to an Associated Press e-mail in search of remark.

The rival league is funded by the Saudi Arabia sovereign prosperity fund and has captivated best names like Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka and British Open up champion Cameron Smith with signing charges upward of $100 million.

It plans a 14-function routine for 2023 and by now has declared seven web-sites, 3 of them earlier PGA Tour venues. LIV officers have indicated they strategy to announce much more players, although none have been introduced.

A New York Instances report on Sunday, involving the critique of hundreds of webpages of private documents, involved an outside the house consulting firm’s outlook on the route to economic good results for a rival league.

The benchmark for good results was to sign every of the world’s top 12 players, get sponsors and a tv offer, all while not dealing with retaliation from the PGA Tour. This was in 2021 and the prepare was known as “Project Wedge.” The Occasions reported it was the foundation for what turned LIV Golf.

Smith was the only participant at the moment in the leading 10 who has signed with LIV Golfing. It nonetheless does not have a Television set agreement and it now is the direct plaintiff in an antitrust lawsuit with the PGA Tour, which has suspended all players who signed with the Saudi-funded league.

Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods have explained Norman requirements to be out of the picture for golfing to be capable to conquer its fractured point out. Norman responded McIlroy and Woods have “no notion what they’re talking about.”

Story carries on

He advised British-primarily based Bunkered magazine, “I have got the complete assist from my chairman. One particular hundred per cent. One thousand p.c. There has never ever been one particular point to recommend usually. But I know what they’re striving to do. They are trying to bait me to draw me into a community back again and forth with them and I’m not likely to go down that childish route.”

Norman also informed the magazine he met with Justin Thomas and said he and other stars who have spoken out towards LIV ended up welcome to join.

“I imply, we talked to JT. Me and a further member of my workforce, we sat down with him and gave him the comprehensive presentation and, if you notice, he’s not explained a great deal detrimental about what we’re accomplishing, presumably for the reason that he understands it and understands it,” Norman explained.

Thomas explained to The Related Press the conference was some time in the past right before the league became a reality and that it was with a LIV Golfing consultant. “I didn’t even know he (Norman) was coming. He just arrived.”

“I felt like I desired to know everything that was likely on,” Thomas claimed. “I went into it with a extremely good plan what I was going to do, but it wouldn’t be intelligent for any human being to at minimum not hear what was heading on.”

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