Greg Norman said of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi's killing: 'We all make mistakes'

World Golf Hall of Fame member Greg Norman, the CEO of LIV Golf which is funded primarily by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, downplayed the 2018 killing of Saudi Arabian journalist Jamal Khashoggi that the CIA has linked to the Saudi government by saying on Wednesday, "we've all made mistakes."

Norman was appearing at a news conference at the Centurion Golf Club outside of London, the venue for the first LIV Golf tournament June 9-11.

“Everybody has owned up to it, right?” Norman said, according to London-based newspaper The Times. “It has been spoken about, from what I’ve read, going on what you guys reported. Take ownership, no matter what it is. Look, we’ve all made mistakes and you just want to learn from those mistakes and how you can correct them going forward.”

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Khashoggi, a Saudi dissident and a journalist who contributed to the Washington Post, was never seen again after he went into the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018. The CIA later released a report that said Saudi Arabian crown prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud ordered Khashoggi's assassination.

Norman, 67, shared similar comments during an interview with Sky Sports when asked about Khashoggi and other human rights abuses by the Saudi Arabian government, including the mass execution of 81 people in March.

“I’m not going to get into politics, I don’t know what the Saudi government does," he said. "I don’t want to get into that. Every country has a cross to bear.”

Norman, who won the British Open in 1986 and 1993, said LIV golf is non-political and is not associated with bin Salman Al Saud.

“They’re not my bosses. We’re independent. I do not answer to Saudi Arabia. I do not answer to MBS [Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud],” he said. “I answer to my board of directors, and MBS is not on that. Simple as that.”

Norman, however, said Saudi Arabia is undergoing “a cultural change” through golf.

“The generation of kids that I see today on the driving range, they don’t want that stigma going on into generations and their kids,” he said. “They want to change that culture and they are changing it. And you know how they’re doing it? Golf.”

Norman’s comments come after the PGA Tour denied its members permission to play in the Saudi-funded golf tournament in London next month. The denials were sent to players who had sought permission late Tuesday afternoon.

It had been expected that the PGA Tour would grant waivers for the LIV Golf Invitational event near London because of a precedent allowing players limited releases for overseas events. All members are required to seek a conflicting event release to compete in non-Tour events.

However, it is thought the decision is based on a belief that the event in the U.K. is effectively part of a rival series. LIV Golf announced a schedule of eight tournaments with plans for more to come.

The tournament at the Centurion Golf Club will have a 48-man field competing for a $20 million purse over 54 holes. The winner gets $4 million — to date the richest prize in golf — and last place gets $120,000.

Players back Tour stance

Players competing in this week's AT&T Byron Nelson near Dallas lined up behind the Tour's stance.

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, who won the Masters last month, said he expected Tour commissioner Jay Monahan to refuse to grant releases.

“I kind of figured that was something that would happen,” he said during his pre-tournament news conference. “If you’re playing here on the PGA Tour, playing in something that could be a rival series to the PGA Tour, being a member of our Tour, it’s definitely not something where we want our members to do because it’s going to harm the tournament that we have opposite that and that’s, I’m sure that’s why they were, why they did not release the players. Because if we have 15 guys go over there and play that hurts the RBC and the Canadian Open [the Tour event scheduled for June 8-11].”

Will Zalatoris, last year’s Rookie of the Year and a member of the Tour’s Player Advisory Council, has been involved in talks behind closed doors and fully backed the decision made by Monahan.

“I thought that was the perfect response,” Zalatoris said. “Because we’re in a great place, the Tour’s in the best spot it’s ever been, it’s only going to get better and why would we want to, why would we encourage our players to get releases for those events when essentially, we have all these sponsors that are involved with the Tour and are only making it better and better. We’re trying to promote our best product possible and if you want to be a part of this where it’s only getting better and better, then you shouldn’t have it both ways. You have a choice, I mean, you really do. You can go if you’d like, but, you know, it is what it is.”

Justin Thomas, the 2021 Players champion, said he's more interested in winning tournaments and creating a legacy in the game than money but said players need to make their own decisions.

“I would hope it would deter them from going over there,” he said. “I think Jay’s made it very clear from the start of what would happen ... and like my whole thing is, like just go then. Like stop going back and forth or like you say you’re going to do this, it’s like you can do — everybody’s entitled to do what they want, you know what I mean? I’m loyal to the PGA Tour and I’ve said that and I think there’s a lot of opportunity for me to, I mean, break records, make history, do a lot of things on the PGA Tour I want to do."

Former European Ryder Cup Captain Paul McGinley, who played most of his career on the DP World Tour, said on Siriux XM that he disagreed with fellow Europeans who have requested releases, such as Sergio Garcia and Lee Westwood.

“I’m not gonna make this personal, they’re all friends of mine,” McGinley said. “But I’m very much a traditionalist, I’m very much aligned with the PGA, DP World Tour and the major championships indeed in terms of retaining and improving the status quo that we have at the moment, which is, you know, every week that we have both European and PGA Tours."

Tour changes rule for college players

In the meantime, the PGA Tour fired another salvo at Golf LIV by changing the rules for the college seniors on its PGA Tour University Ranking who are in line for Korn Ferry Tour status. While Norman has said amateurs would be welcome in LIV Golf events, the Tour said the top-15 players on its college rankings "may not competes in any professional golf tournament that is not ranked by the Official World Golf Ranking, excluding such events that have been previously approved by the PGA Tour.”

The PGA Tour University Ranking is based on results and level of competition. After the 2022 NCAA Men’s Golf National Championship ends June 1, the top‐15 players in the Class of 2022 will earn status on the Korn Ferry Tour or a PGA Tour international tour.

Content from the Florida Times-Union, golfweek.com and the Associated Press was used in this report.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Greg Norman said of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi's killing: 'We all make mistakes'