Unfortunately the clubhouse itself wasn’t so lucky. Thanks to windy conditions, the flames quickly spread through the structure, collapsing the roof and razing much of the building down to the foundation. CFA district 13 assistant fire office David Renkin called the clubhouse “a total loss”. The clouds of black smoke rising from the building were so intense they forced local pilots to reroute flights and a smoke warning was issued for nearby residents as the haze dispersed.

Needless to say, it was a sad day to for employees and members of the Yarra Valley club, but it could have been a lot worse. Buildings can be rebuilt and greens resodded. The important thing is that no one was hurt in the blaze.

Main image: Josh Potts

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A number of alleged points of note cropped up during the Tuesday Congressional hearing looking into the proposed partnership between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.

Among the most noteworthy is the suggestion that LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman would step aside from the new deal.

In his opening remarks during the hearing on the planned partnership, Senator Richard Blumenthal said there had been a side-agreement among members of the PGA Tour and PIF negotiators that Norman would not be involved in the new alliance, but would take up another role.

However, a PGA Tour spokesperson said the agreement has not yet been signed.

The new entity formed by the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and PIF will “undertake a full and objective empirical data-driven evaluation of LIV and its prospects and potential and will make a good faith assessment of the benefits of team golf in general, and PIF, the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour will work together in an effort to determine how best to integrate team golf into PGA Tour and DP World Tour events going forward.”

PGA Tour COO Ron Price and board member Jimmy Dunne also spoke at the hearing in the wake of the June 6 announcement of a framework arrangement between the PGA Tour, the PIF and the DP World Tour.

In response to Senator Blumenthal’s question: “What is the amount of the Saudi investment that is going to be made? What are the amounts that have been discussed?” Price said investment will be “significant … north of $1 billion.” That’s about the same number as the PGA Tour’s net assets last year ($1.3 billion).

Among the three-hour discussion it also emerged that the PIF allegedly wants to sponsor at least two PGA Tour designated events — with one being held in the Kingdom.

It was also documented that world No. 3 Rory McIlroy met with PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan. “In our meeting, Rory and His Excellency talked of the need for compromise to benefit the game’s stakeholders, be it players, fans, broadcasters, sponsors and charities,” the documentation read. The document also states McIlroy “was seeking no personal financial gain, he was simply trying to unify the game”.

Regarding the announcement, Saudi and LIV Golf advisor Michael Klein asserted the need for the relationship to look true and to set the narrative off the jump, one that would be supported by a “softball segment” on CNBC. “The press teams are aligned on this. They are also taking all of the recent lessons from the Boeing Saudi announcements, which went extremely well in DC, nationally, and internationally.” PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and PIF governor Al-Rumayyan ultimately announced the partnership during a CNBC appearance.

This has been another talking point from the tour after the word “merger” was used in the initial joint press release. Instead, Price and Dunne said, the PGA Tour will remain intact, with the PIF contributing to the new for-profit entity as a minority investor.

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LIV Golf announced today that the 2023 LIV Golf League Team Championship will take place October 20-22 at Trump National Doral Golf Club in Miami. The iconic Blue Monster at Doral will stage the seeded three-day tournament featuring both match play and stroke play, delivering the excitement of head-to-head competition to determine the season’s team champion.

“We’re thrilled to return to the Blue Monster at Doral to celebrate a historic year and crown the 2023 LIV Golf League team champion,” said LIV Golf CEO and Commissioner Greg Norman. “The team concept has come to life this year in exciting new ways as our players and fans embrace the launch of team golf. We’re building up for an action-packed weekend with headline entertainment that will put an exclamation point on another can’t-miss LIV Golf event.”

LIV Golf Jeddah, previously scheduled for November 3-5, will take place October 13-15 at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club as the thirteenth and final tournament of the regular season. At the conclusion of the regular season, the player at the top of the individual standings is named the Individual Champion and the top three players receive bonuses. Final team standings following LIV Golf Jeddah will determine seeds 1-12 for the Team Championship, with the top four teams receiving first-round byes. Additional details on the Team Championship format and music entertainment will be released in the near future.

Points are awarded at each regular-season tournament to teams finishing in the top eight positions, with 32 points awarded to the winning team down to one point for the eighth-place finish. Through nine events, 4 Aces GC – featuring two-time major winner Dustin Johnson, 2018 Masters champion Patrick Reed, Peter Uihlein and Pat Perez – sit atop the team standings with 168 points after seven top-four finishes including team wins in Adelaide and London. Torque GC, featuring Chilean stars Joaquin Niemann and Mito Pereira, Colombian Sebastian Muñoz, and Spanish rookie David Puig, are in second with 129 total points after team wins in Orlando, DC, and Andalucía. RangeGoats GC, led by two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson and current individual standings leader Talor Gooch, trail closely behind in third place with 127 points thanks to a string of five consecutive top-three finishes, including a victory in Singapore, followed by a fourth-place finish in London. The all-South African Stinger GC featuring major champions Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel, Branden Grace and Dean Burmester, currently sit in fourth place with 124 points.

Fans can pre-register at LIVGolf.com to be the first to access early birdie tickets for LIV Golf Jeddah and the LIV Golf Team Championship in Miami, where single-day and three-day grounds passes will be all-inclusive of the fan activities on site. Single-day and three-day hospitality packages for the popular Club 54, Gallery Club and Birdie Shack experiences will also be available.

LIV Golf League tournaments air from 1:00 – 6:00 p.m. ET on Saturday and Sunday on The CW, The CW App and LIV Golf Plus, with Friday rounds carried on The CW App and LIV Golf Plus. In addition, LIV Golf tournaments are carried on YouTube and on more than a dozen international broadcast partners, delivering league broadcasts in over 180 territories to more than 380 million homes worldwide. For more information on how to watch the 2023 LIV Golf League, visit LIVGolf.com/where-to-watch.

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PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said he doesn’t envision LIV Golf events running concurrently in 2024, and there’s belief the PGA Tour’s new deal with Saudi Arabia could fold the LIV Golf circuit entirely. LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman, it appears, has other plans.

According to Sports Illustrated, Norman told LIV Golf staffers on a Wednesday call that the league “isn’t going anywhere.”

“LIV is and will continue to be a standalone enterprise,” Norman told staffers, according to SI. “Our business model will not change. We changed history and we’re not going anywhere.”

Norman also added there would be no changes to current operations and planning was underway for 2025.

Tuesday’s press releases announced a new partnership between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which is the financial backer of LIV Golf … but not LIV Golf itself, raising the question what role if any LIV Golf will have in the newly created golf entity. Monahan told the media Tuesday that he doesn’t foresee LIV Golf events being run concurrently next season and when asked if he envisions LIV existing at all in 2024, Monahan replied, “We’re in a framework agreement. We haven’t concluded the definitive agreement. I have not had the opportunity that I’m going to have to conduct a comprehensive empirical evaluation. I don’t want to make any statements or make any predictions.”

Monahan said there’s a commitment in place to make a “good-faith effort to look at team golf and the role it can play going forward.” Additionally, in his memo to PGA Tour members, Monahan wrote that LIV golfers will have a pathway back to their former respective tours. Speaking with the media Monahan said while no formal process has been set, discussions are ongoing on how those players will ultimately return.

Rory McIlroy, who has served as the de facto spokesperson for the tour over this past year of civil strife in the game, was less diplomatic when speaking ahead of this week’s RBC Canadian Open, stating his hope that LIV will cease operations and that those defected have to face the consequences of their actions.

“The people who left the PGA Tour irreparably harmed this tour, started litigation against it. We can’t just welcome them back in,” McIlroy said. “That’s not going to happen. I think that was the one thing that Jay was trying to get across yesterday is, guys, we’re not just going to bring these guys back in and pretend like nothing has happened. That is not going to happen.”

Also unclear is Norman’s new station. According to PIF’s governor, Norman did not find out about the peace treaty between LIV and golf’s tours until moments before the governor’s scheduled CNBC TV appearance to discuss the deal. “I made a call just before this and of course he is a partner with us, and all the stakeholders that we have with us they had the call right before this interview,” Yasir Al-Rumayyan told CNBC.

Norman has been the CEO since LIV Golf’s launch, but had not been seen or heard from as much in LIV’s second season. There had been multiple calls for Norman’s departure regarding any potential peace talks between LIV and the tours, with Tiger Woods saying last December that Norman “has to go.” Norman was not listed in any of Tuesday’s formal announcements.

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Both Greg Norman, the LIV Golf Tour chief executive, and the Asian Tour CEO Cho Minn Thant have embraced the news of a partnership between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour.

News emerged on Tuesday of a merger between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and the newest circuit, the LIV Golf League, after a year of acrimonious calls, fall-outs and even legal cases.

The news came as a shock across the sporting world almost exactly a year after the new LIV Golf League held its first event in London at Centurion Club, with the likes of Patrick Reed, Brooks Koepka and Ian Poulter on the books, and name-drops of Bryson DeChambeau and Bubba Watson happening as new arrivals during the inaugural competition.

But the leaders of the new partners have all embraced the deal as PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan hailing it as “a historic day for the game we all know and love”, and Norman calling the move as “a great day in global golf for players and fans alike”.

A great day in global golf for players and fans alike. The journey continues!!

— Greg Norman (@SharkGregNorman) June 6, 2023

Asian Tour boss Cho released a statement on Wednesday morning, which read: “The Asian Tour welcomed and embraced yesterday’s news concerning the landmark announcement between the [LIV-backers] Public Investment Fund, the PGA Tour, and the DP World Tour.

“This is a massive stride forward for the game and a great result for all parties concerned: the fans, brands, broadcasters, the Tours and their membership.

“This hugely significant development validates our well documented decision to collaborate with Golf Saudi and LIV Golf to elevate the Asian Tour’s standing in the game. We were always confident a solution would be found, and we are delighted it has come so soon following a turbulent period for golf globally.

“The Asian Tour looks forward to contributing to the ongoing dialogue and playing our part in helping to build a model and structure for the Tours to work together so that we can all enjoy what will arguably be the most exciting period for professional golf.”

A statement from the Asian Tour on the announcement by PGA Tour, DP World Tour and PIF.  pic.twitter.com/lqOczH6aoc

— Asian Tour (@asiantourgolf) June 7, 2023

The Asian Tour’s Order of Merit and International Series offer a pathway to the LIV Golf League for the best players.

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Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley, speaking in his annual Wednesday pre-tournament Masters press conference, distanced himself from the two-time Open champion who is now the commissioner of LIV Golf.

The Masters traditionally extends past major championship winners with honorary invitations to the tournament, even allowing them to play in the Par-3 Contest. Additionally, those who oversee various men’s professional golf tours from around the world are also welcomed to the event. Norman would seemingly qualify under both criteria, but the club decided to make an exception.

“We did not extend an invitation to Mr Norman,” Ridley said. “The primary issue … I want the focus this week to be on the Masters competition, on the great players that are participating, the greatest players in the world, which, by our decision in December, we ensured that we were going to honour and be consistent with our invitation criteria.”

Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson. JD Cuban

The decision Ridley references was when the club announced that LIV golfers, who are prohibited from playing in PGA Tour events, would be allowed to compete at Augusta National. Eighteen LIV golfers, including reigning Open champion Cameron Smith, and six past Masters champions including Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson, are set to tee it up on Thursday.

Ridley acknowledge that part of the club’s decision regarding Norman was the fact he hasn’t typically taking the Masters up on its invitations in the past.

“I would also add that, in the last 10 years, Greg Norman has only been here twice,” Ridley said. “I believe one of those was as a commentator for Sirius Radio. It really was to keep the focus on the competition.”

Last July, Norman was also not invited by the R&A to a four-hole exhibition at the 150th Open at St Andrews and a dinner for former Open champions. At the time, Norman called the decision “petty”, despite the governing body explaining it was to ensure the focus would be on the 150th edition of its championship.

This week, Norman used the same term in an interview with The Telegraph, noting that all he received a year ago to the Masters was a grounds pass. “I’m disappointed because it’s so petty, but of course I’ll still be watching,” he said.

Norman’s league was one of several subjects Ridley discussed on Wednesday. “I know many of these players who are no longer on the PGA Tour,” he said. “Some of them I would consider friends. … I was expressing some disappointment that these players were taking the platform that had been given to them, that they rightly had earned success on, by the way, and moving to another opportunity, perhaps not thinking about who might come behind them.”

The qualifying critera for the 2024 Masters was also revealed, and LIV golfers again will be allowed to compete so long as they earn an invitation through various categories, which including winning major champions in the last five years and being inside the top 50 on the Official World Golf Rankings.

“[OWGR] is a really good way to invite players; it’s an objective criteria based on data-driven analytics,” he said.

OWGR points, however, are not being offered in LIV Golf events, which has resulted in the league’s players sliding down since joining LIV.

As for 20-time PGA Tour winner and former World No.1 Norman? Ridley did not slam the door.

“I’ve noticed the tone has been really good here this week,” he said. “Last night at the Champions Dinner, I would not have known that anything was going on in the world of professional golf other than the norm.

“[But if you are] asking will [Norman] ever be welcomed back? I would never say never.”

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The Masters, but louder? The later part of that sentence is what LIV Golf has used in most of its marketing over the past year, insisting that it’s league will be known for “golf, but louder.”

It’s a nod to its overall philosophy where its events often are accompanied by music, big flashy signage and champagne team celebrations for the winners at the end of the week. According to LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman, it may not be all that different next week at the Masters if a LIV player wins.

Norman told NewsCorp on Saturday that if one of the 18 LIV players invited to the Masters happens to win late Sunday, the other 17 will meet the victor for a celebration near Augusta National’s 18th green.

“If one of the guys, no matter who it is, they are all going to be there on the 18th green, they are all going to be there, and that just gives me goosebumps to think about,” Norman said. “When you walk up 18, your caddie hugs you then you see your wife or your mum and dad. Now, to have those 17 other guys there, that’s the spirit we want.”

Four-time major winner Brooks Koepka won the LIV Golf event this week at Orange County National outside Orlando, where Norman says green speeds were fast to help players prepare for what they may see next week. Koepka, fresh off his victory, will be part of the LIV contingent heading north, along with the likes of 2020 Masters champion Dustin Johnson, three-time Masters winner Phil Mickelson and Cam Smith, winner of last summer’s Open Championship at the Old Course.

Aside from the thought of one of his players winning a green jacket, Norman is excited about seeing some of his men play against the top players on the PGA Tour for the first time this year.

“I compliment the Masters on letting the players play because now they have got the best field and they are actually now the true Super Bowl,” Norman said. “But if I’m the Masters right now, I would want, on Sunday, DJ or Brooks or Cam, any of those guys against Rory [McIlroy] and Jon Rahm. Can you imagine what the TV ratings would be like?

“It’s what the people want. It’s what TV wants. The ratings will be far higher than any other ratings if you’ve got Rory playing any one of our top guys.”

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This week, the Northern Irishman found himself the target of criticism from former Ryder Cup teammate Sergio Garcia, the Spaniard calling out McIlroy for “lacking maturity” in the way he handled the end of their friendship after Garcia left the PGA Tour and DP World Tour to join LIV last summer.

“I think it is very sad,” Garcia told Telegraph Sport at the Mayakoba Resort in Mexico. “I think that we’ve done so many things together and had so many experiences that for him to throw that away just because I decided to go to a different tour, well, it doesn’t seem very mature; lacking maturity, really. But Rory’s got his own life, and he makes his own choices, the same way that I make mine. I respect his choices, but it seems like he doesn’t respect the ones I make.”

Garcia appeared to be upset that McIlroy revealed the context of text messages between the two of them, with Rory essentially telling Sergio to “shut up” about LIV. Likewise, is subsequent exchanges with the media about potentially mending fences with Garcia, McIlroy has quickly dismissed the idea.

After Garcia’s swipes, some choice words from Greg Norman, LIV Golf CEO, were throw McIlroy’s was as the friction between the sides continues to play out.

“All due respect, Rory. He doesn’t know anything about LIV,” Norman said in an interview with Golf.com conducted earlier in the year and aired this weekend. “He knows something about the PGA Tour, he sits on the PAC council. It doesn’t have the power that you think because the board has the power, right? But Rory doesn’t know what he’s talking about with LIV because he doesn’t know the facts”

Norman’s criticism didn’t stop there.

“I’ve always been a fan of Rory McIlroy’s,” Norman continued. “My advice to him would be, just sit back, take stock, watch what you say, because in the end there will be a situation where, you know, he’ll be asked a few questions that he may not want to be answering.”

Norman’s comments would seem to be a reaction to McIlroy’s statements in the autumn that the best thing that could happen to help cool down the tension between LIV and the PGA/DP World Tours would be for Norman to get out of the picture.

“There’s a few things that I would like to see on the LIV side that needs to happen,” McIlroy said during the DP World Tour Championship in November. “I think Greg needs to go. I think he just needs to exit stage left. He’s made his mark, but I think now is the right time to sort of say, look, you’ve got this thing off the ground but no one is going to talk unless there’s an adult in the room that can actually try to mend fences. Then things can happen. But right now, it’s a stalemate because there can’t be any other way.”

Norman’s criticism wasn’t isolated to McIlroy, but was also tossed the way of other PGA Tour loyalists, including Tiger Woods and Freddie Couples. Norman contented they had been asked to speak up negatively toward LIV to try to sway public sentiment against the league.

“There are going to be a few who are probably being asked to be vitriolic against the LIV guys for whatever reason,” Norman said. “Until you completely understand what you’re talking about, don’t open your mouth, because you’ll only embarrass yourself. That’s my read on it, to be honest with you.”

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RELATED: Tiger says Greg has to go
Rory calls for Norman to step down

Speaking on Fox News’ One Nation with Brian Kilmeade, Norman said: “Well, I think, yeah, sad for Tiger. You know, unfortunately he made a comment that he doesn’t know the facts about, because obviously I’m still here. Obviously he doesn’t control what we do with LIV. So just making those comments I think is an indication that he might be a bit of a mouthpiece for the PGA Tour to try and get us to create, or get turmoil created internally within LIV.”

At the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai in November, Rory McIlroy suggested Norman should step aside to help heal the rift between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour, saying: “There’s a few things that I would like to see on the LIV side that needs to happen. I think Greg needs to go. I think he just needs to exit stage left. He’s made his mark, but I think now is the right time to sort of say, look, you’ve got this thing off the ground, but no one is going to talk unless there’s an adult in the room that can actually try to mend fences.”

Woods backed those comments shortly after. “I think Greg has to go, first of all,” Woods said.

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The LIV CEO and commissioner made the comments in an interview with Bunkered magazine.

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“Our door is open for everybody,” Norman said. “We’re not the PGA Tour. We’re not like that. We exist for the players, so we will always have an open door, whether that’s for Rory or Jordan Spieth or Justin Thomas or whoever.”

“I mean, we talked to JT,” Norman added. “Me and another member of my team, we sat down with him and gave him the full presentation and, if you notice, he’s not said much negative about what we’re doing, presumably because he knows it and understands it.”

Ahead of the RBC Canadian Open in June, Thomas said this: “I’ve thought a lot about it … People are entitled to choose as they wish. I don’t dislike [Dustin Johnson] now, I don’t think he’s a bad dude — I’m not going to treat him any differently. I’m disappointed, and I wish that he and others wouldn’t have done it … I know the PGA Tour is the best place to play in the world. I wish that it wouldn’t be taking away from the great storylines and things that are going on on a tour that’s been around for a very long time and is in one of the best places it’s ever been. It’s just a bummer that those guys won’t be a part of it.”

And following that tournament, in which he finished third behind Rory McIlroy and Tony Finau, he added this tweet:

What a week. That’s why we play, and that’s why we play on the @PGATOUR. Got to battle against one of the best today and got out dueled, but not without a fight. Congrats to @McIlroyRory on his 21st (?) win and an amazing finish. Can’t wait for @usopengolf!

— Justin Thomas (@JustinThomas34) June 12, 2022

Ahead of the Presidents Cup, which didn’t include LIV golfers, Thomas also said he had no interest in a team match pitting PGA Tour and LIV players.

“They’re more than happy doing what they’re doing, and we’re doing great what we’re doing,” Thomas said at the time. “So just don’t see the need for it.”

Like Thomas, McIlroy has been very vocal about his support of the PGA Tour and his criticism of LIV, specifically Norman. The four-time major champ took a swipe at the Shark after passing his PGA Tour career win total, and more recently, he and Tiger Woods called for the Aussie to be relieved of his LIV duties for the good of professional golf. Norman reiterated that is not happening.

“Rory and Tiger have no idea what they’re talking about,” Norman told Bunkered. “None whatsoever. I have got the full support from my chairman. One hundred per cent. One thousand per cent. There has never been one thing to suggest otherwise. But I know what they’re trying to do. They’re trying to bait me to draw me into a public back and forth with them and I’m not going to go down that childish path.”

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