Golf icon begs LIV Golf not to 'ruin' women's game

23 January 2024 , 15:16

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Greg Norman has hinted LIV Golf could go into the women's game (Image: Getty Images)

LPGA Tour legend Annika Sorenstam has warned introducing LIV Golf into the women's game could 'ruin' the sport, despite its rapid ascent in the men's game.

LIV has announced itself as one of golf's leading circuits alongside the PGA Tour and DP World Tour having lured in some of the sport's biggest names. The likes of Brooks Koepka, Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson and most recently Jon Rahm have signed mega-money contracts with the breakaway league.

With the backing of the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, the LIV setup have pumped eye-watering amounts of money into the men's game, and according to CEO Greg Norman, women's golf could be next.

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"I have personally had discussions with individual LPGA Tour players, Ladies European Tour players, the Ladies European Tour," Norman said last April. "They love what our product is showcasing. They ask all the time, ‘how can we get involved?’ We’d love to see a LIV ladies series.”

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However one of women's golf's biggest names is not keen on the idea. "LIV Golf for the men, I think there is room for it,’ 10-time major champion Annika Sorenstam told the Daily Mail. “It’s just that the lines are not clear, right? I thought in the beginning that there was a certain group of people that would go to LIV – the 40+, so to speak.

"It’s the next phase in their life. But then, that hasn’t been the case. It’s now just very cloudy. I don’t even know who it’s for and how they’re going to do it. As far as LIV Golf for women, we already have the Aramco series, and I think they have fit in well and why not give the ladies a chance to play for other opportunities."

Annika Sorenstam has issued a warning about LIV Golf

The emergence of LIV has left the men's game split, with the world's best players playing their trade across the traditional PGA and DP World Tours or the LIV circuit, only reuniting for the sport's four major championships each year. If this was to happen in women's golf, Sorenstam believes the the impact would be much worse.

"I do think it gets crowded or would take away from the existing events, if there were more events or more players went, because you need the top players for LPGA to have the sponsorships," she added. "So if you only have half of them, then then that will be an issue.

"So I would love to see it, like it is today. It’s working and if they expand, well, hopefully they will continue to work together. Because women don’t have as many opportunities, so we shouldn’t be ruining what we have.”

Joshua Lees