21 February 2023 , 09:40
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Greg Norman has talked up LIV Golf as "reinvigorating the professional game" on the eve of its second season, having added European Ryder Cup hopeful Thomas Pieters to the roster.
World No. 35 Pieters, who competed for Europe as a captain's pick at the 2016 Ryder Cup in America, has joined two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson's Range Goats team - which also included Talor Gooch and Harold Varner III.
Pieters made the dramatic switch to the Saudi-funded series alongside American Brendan Steele and New Zealand's Danny Lee, with LIV Golf momentum building up again just before the 2023 season gets underway in Mexico on Friday.
Pieters' LIV Golf move will come as a huge blow to the PGA Tour and a big boost to LIV Golf, with Europe having been hopeful of including him in the team to take on the US in Rome later this year.
After he won a a record four points on his Ryder Cup debut at Hazeltine in 2016, including all three matches with Rory McIlroy, the Northern Irishman - arguably LIV Golf's biggest critic - had said: I've got a partner beside me for the next 20 years, I'm not letting anyone else have him."
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And Norman will have been delighted to snap up the signing, not only because of McIlroy's old comments but also due to the fact they have signed one of the most in-form players.
Thomas Pieters has been snapped up by LIV Golf, and has joined Bubba Watson's team (Getty Images)And the LIV Golf chief executive was in a buoyant mood ahead of the season starting at Mayakoba on Friday.
"In less than a year, LIV Golf has reinvigorated the professional game and laid the foundation for the sport's future," Norman said.
"In 2023, the LIV Golf League comes to life. The most popular sports in the world are team sports, and our league format has already begun to build connections with new audiences around the globe.
"Major champions, current and future Hall of Famers, and up-and-coming stars are all committed to creating this new platform for world-class competition as the sport evolves for the next generation."