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The battle between the PGA Tour and Saudi-backed LIV Golf Series isn’t ending anytime soon. Neither, it appears, is the war of words between Greg Norman and Brandel Chamblee.

Norman, the CEO and commissioner of LIV, unloaded on the longtime Golf Channel analyst after Chamblee declared last month that Norman (along with Phil Mickelson) should be kicked out of the World Golf Hall of Fame for their roles in the controversial new league that has poached a number of high-profile players from the PGA Tour, including Mickelson.

“I find it laughable,” Norman told the Palm Beach Post. “Has Brandel Chamblee ever been to Saudi Arabia? Has he ever built a golf course in a third world country? He’s a paid talking bobblehead. That’s all he is. He’s got my phone number. He’s never picked up a phone and asked me a question. Sadly, you’re making yourself look like a jerk. It’s like water off a duck’s back to me.”

Chamblee responded to Norman’s comments on Twitter, posting a screenshot of a text conversation between the two in which Norman called Chamblee’s broadcasting style “refreshing.”

“Funny how when I ‘call it like I see it’ about LIV, it’s not so refreshing to Greg,” Chamblee wrote, noting that the conversation occurred before the inception of LIV Golf.


  Greg Norman signs an autograph during an LIV Golf event on July 2, 2022. via Getty Images Greg Norman signs an autograph during an LIV Golf event on July 2, 2022. via Getty Images

Norman, meanwhile, went on to discuss the tenor of LIV Golf’s relationship — or lack thereof — with the PGA Tour. He insisted that he has “taken the high road” and actually feels “sorry” for the Tour, which he believes has hurt its reputation because of its persistent anti-LIV Golf rhetoric. The Tour threatened from early on that it would suspend any players who teed it up in LIV tournaments and has carried through with that edict by barring Mickelson and the others who have made the move from competing in its tournaments.

That hasn’t stopped a number of notable players from making the leap.

Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed, Sergio Garcia, Graeme McDowell, Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter are among the biggest names to defect. Three more players — Henrik Stenson, Charles Howell III and Jason Kokrak — also joined LIV this week ahead of next week’s tournament at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J.


  Brandel Chamblee at the Masters in 2019. Getty Images for SiriusXM Brandel Chamblee at the Masters in 2019. Getty Images for SiriusXM

  Norman (right) waves to the crowd during the award ceremony after the LIV Golf Invitational in Portland earlier in July. Getty Images Norman (right) waves to the crowd during the award ceremony after the LIV Golf Invitational in Portland earlier in July. Getty Images

At the crux of the divide are the huge sums of guaranteed money offered by LIV for its 54-hole, no-cut events and the Tour’s hardline stance against the organization, which has also been widely accused of being used to sportswash Saudi Arabia’s human rights attrocities.

LIV Golf, which does not have a TV deal and shows its events online only at the moment, also made a splash this week, as first reported by The Post, by luring analyst David Feherty away from NBC and Golf Channel. Charles Barkley will also meet with LIV, as The Post reported.

Meanwhile, neither the Tour or Norman seem to be backing down.

“They brought it on themselves,” Norman said of the Tour. “We haven’t done anything other than putting together a business model and giving independent contractors a right to earn a living doing something else, as well as still being a member of the PGA Tour. The entire business model from the ground up was built to coexist within the ecosystem of gold, coexist within the majors.

“… That is a testament to their stupidity, quite honestly. Instead of sitting down and taking a phone call from us and just say, ‘Hey, work this out. We can do it.’ It’s an easy fix. It’s ridiculous.”

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