LIV GOLF ADELAIDE

April 20, 2023

Greg Norman

Peter Malinauskas

Cam Smith

The Grange

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Welcome to the LIV Golf Adelaide 2023 press conference. We are joined by the Premier of South Australia, Peter Malinauskas; Cam Smith, the captain of Ripper GC; and Greg Norman, the CEO and commissioner of LIV Golf. Welcome, gentlemen. Thank you for joining us.

We'll start with you, Premier. There's been a lot of anticipation for this event. The excitement is palpable in South Australia at this event. Has this met your expectations so far or exceeded them?

PETER MALINAUSKAS: Easily. In fact it exceeded my expectations the moment those tickets went on sale and they sold out within minutes. I remember I called my team when I saw the sold-out sign going on the banner on the website, and I said, something has gone wrong; someone didn't put the tickets online when we said they're on sale. I went back and checked, and they said, you're not going to believe it; it's sold out.

Look, the anticipation has been here from the get-go. We're just so wrapped to have yet another weekend of extraordinary hospitality activity in our state. It's good for the local economy. We've seen that come through over the last couple of weeks.

What we're particularly excited about, if I'm frank, is that the power of the game of golf at such a high elite professional level, to be able to draw the eyes of the nation, indeed internationally, on our city and our state. That is a wholeheartedly good thing, and we're very grateful to have this partnership with LIV to be able to deliver that.

We do see it as a partnership. LIV is obviously a relatively new format of the game of golf, and as far as Australian golfing fans are concerned, it's been a long time coming.

From my perspective, it didn't take much of a genius to work out that there is an appetite for high-quality golf in Australia. We've been yearning for this. LIV provides us the opportunity to enjoy that and experience that.

It is the South Australian economy that will be a major beneficiary of it.

THE MODERATOR: I know a lot of the players and the players' families and even LIV Golf staff have had an opportunity to enjoy South Australia this week, everything from shark diving to an AFL game. I know people have gone to the Cleland Wildlife Park. Has this really given an opportunity to showcase what South Australia has to offer?

PETER MALINAUSKAS: Absolutely, and that was very much the whole idea. We have got a story to tell, and sometimes Adelaide and South Australia hasn't got the attention that we think we deserve. Sometimes it's the Queenslanders that have had too much attention.

That is the opportunity to be able to showcase everything our state has to offer, and the fact that we've got a long-term partnership with LIV, we'll see that occur year in, year out in a way that we believe can only grow.

THE MODERATOR: Greg, you are the native son returning home to Australia. What does this mean to you, and what does this mean to LIV to be here in Australia and have this incredible reception?

GREG NORMAN: Well, it's actually on multiple fronts to be honest with you. From a player being 45 years of supporting the game of golf down under to being involved with business, understanding where the brand is, but actually being an Australian, my responsibility when I was asked to be the CEO and the commissioner of the LIV Golf League was to eventually, as soon as I possibly could, bring an event to Australia. Why? Because I've truly believed, as I just mentioned in 45 years of playing the game of golf down here and supporting Australian golf, that Australia really has never seen the best of the best on a consistent regular basis.

Yeah, we've had the Presidents Cup here; yeah, we've had the World Cup here. We've had events down here, there's no question, but an event of this magnitude, of this breadth and depth of footprint, product, deliverables, everything you need, has never been delivered here before.

We are not coming in here just flashing and burning and disappearing. We've made a commitment, and you heard the Premier mention the one word, which is very, very important to me and to LIV is "partnership." It's a partnership with the state. It's a partnership with the country, but it's a partnership for the game of golf.

Forgetting all the white noise that everybody writes about and talks about, this is all about the game of golf and what's good for the game of golf and what's good for the local region.

From my perspective, having the ability to be able to move the needle in that direction and to be involved with the south Australian government or any other country around the world is a very, very powerful and poignant point as far as my concerned.

We are here, we've embraced this area. I said to the premier when we first came down here before our first press conference, we are here for the long-term. We want to create an economic impact to this region that's never been done before through the game of golf, and I think we're delivering on that now.

To see how this area has embraced us, not only just from Adelaide's standpoint, which I think is the biggest smaller city in the world, which is now the focal point of global golf, the Premier mentioned South Australia, Australia, but we really are this next 72 hours, we are the focal point, and the next 72 hours you will see the true LIV product.

Australians have embraced that by selling out. TV cameras, media, channel 7, corporations, hospitality, tourism, the great work -- I've been lucky enough to love South Australia since 1976 when I first came down here, so it's near and dear to my heart. I actually flew with the head of Penfolds Grange yesterday back from Melbourne, so we were reminiscing back in '76, and here we are at the Grange Golf Club.

There's so many great touch points as far as I'm concerned. For us to be able to significantly make a huge economic impact in this community is near and dear personally to me but also as the CEO and commissioner of LIV.

THE MODERATOR: Cam, one for you. I've had the privilege of being able to follow you around a little bit this week and see the throngs of fans chasing you down. I even heard a woman say she felt faint after seeing you.

CAM SMITH: Wow.

THE MODERATOR: What does it mean to be home and be this massive superstar? Is it a surreal experience for you?

CAM SMITH: Yeah, absolutely, it is a little bit surreal, I think. I was fortunate to be down here in November and played a couple of events, but as these two guys just said, I think Adelaide has been starved a little bit for really high-level golf, and Adelaide has done a really good job over the past couple weeks of not only bringing golf but the footy was down here last weekend. The town definitely has a buzz to it, and it's great to be a part of.

THE MODERATOR: I was able to take you to the merch shop to show you your very first tee shirt with your face on it. Are you going to be wearing that this week?

CAM SMITH: Maybe another time. Not around town. I think I'm trying to be incognito.

Q. Can I touch on your emotions, you mentioned 1976 your first pro win. What are your recollections of that and now to come back in such a powerful position? Any sense of irony? What's your emotions about that?

GREG NORMAN: I wouldn't say irony. A lot of emotion to be honest with you. I've been here before. Obviously I've been involved with redoing the golf course, so I've had a very tight connection with the Grange Golf Club, and like I said, with Adelaide.

From my perspective, I have to kind of take a step back because it's all about what LIV, the league, and what we're doing here this week, but also I realize that there was a powerful impact that I made to myself, not to Adelaide or anything, but winning the third golf tournament I ever played in my life.

This was the catalyst. This started my career. I had a 10-shot lead after 54 holes and I thought I was bulletproof, and I thought the game of golf was so easy. But if I didn't win the West Lakes Classic the way I did in '76, I wouldn't have had that injection of massive amount of confidence to go on and continue my career of winning and winning and winning and amassing the number of tournaments I did.

Yeah, it's always going to be a part of it. It's always going to be in my heart, and I'm just glad we're here.

Q. Just on the future of LIV, where do you see it in two or three years? Do you hope that the PGA and yourselves can come to the table, and what's it going to take to get to that point to have meaningful discussions?

GREG NORMAN: That's a fair question. Look, we are not going anywhere. LIV is here for a long, long period of time. We've said that from the outset. Also from the outset we've also said that we want to coexist within the golf ecosystem.

From our perspective or my perspective, it's product. We have a product that the fans want. We have a product that the state government of South Australia wants. We have a product the corporations and television wants. You have other products, as well, too. You have the PGA TOUR, you have the DP World Tour, you have the Asian Tour, you have the Japanese Tour. Happy days to all that. There's nothing wrong with that.

We encouraged since day one wanting the Cam Smiths of the world and every one of our other 47 players to go play other tournaments they want. If they want to stay with LIV and solely LIV, happy days, that's your choice as an independent contractor.

But consistently from day one, we've tried to work with both tours to make sure that we are here for a long, long period of time. We want to be part of the system, your system, as much as you be part of our system. They've made their decision. We've made our decision to showcase to the world the product that we truly have, the business model that really works, and I hope everybody here really unpacks that business model, which is the franchise model.

Look what Kerry packer did with cricket. God bless him; he sits on my right shoulder every day. Trust me, every day. He goes, son, you're doing a good bloody job. I would say another word he always says, but...

So I know the value of what we recognize as investors into the game of golf. We know the value or the starvation of golf has not delivered, which is the franchise value.

Cam Smith, the leader of the Rippers, his future is incredible, not only as an individual player but an owner of a team. Nobody is really focusing in on that, that we, LIV, identified that opportunity, and that's the product. That's the ability.

PGA TOUR has got a great tour. We're happy for them. I'm happy for them. I grew up on the PGA TOUR. So did Cam. We grew up playing on the European Tour. I hope they exist and keep existing, but it's their choice of what they want to do, and if they want to keep putting up road blocks, we're not going to go anywhere. We've got a great product. We've got investment dollars there today, investment dollars into the future that will continue to be there because of guys like this.

We see the value that they can deliver, and we see the undervalue of what their worth is today as independent contractors in the sport of golf.

Q. I just wanted to know, are you looking at expanding the Australian leg to Queensland next year?

GREG NORMAN: Look, right now we're focused for the next 72 hours. I've walked through the production truck and spoken to everybody from the director to the producer to -- I haven't spoken to the commentators yet. Our next 72 hours will show Australia and the world what the product is. That's our focus today.

But trust me, this morning, because of the impact the Premier and his tourism department and the state has done in this country, my phone is ringing off the hook, but it's not just Australia, it's the rest of the world, as well, too.

So it's a compliment to the message that the state government has delivered here on behalf of their constituents. The message is getting out there, and the product is showing itself, like we just touched on with Cam. We're focused on the next 72 hours, and let's see what happens after that.

Q. In your time with LIV Golf, have you ever had a conversation with Mohammed bin Salman or any of the senior leadership of the Public Investment Fund about Saudi Arabia's human rights record?

GREG NORMAN: No, I have not.

Q. Why not?

GREG NORMAN: Because I'm the chairman and CEO of LIV Golf Investments, and that's where I focus. I focus on golf. I stay focused on golf. My job is to build out LIV and the product we have on a global front. We have nine events in the U.S. and five elsewhere. That's my job. My job is to help Cam and the Rippers and the 11 other team members identify their future value and understand what it is.

Golf is a force for good. I've been involved with golf, like I said, as a player, as well as golf course design. I've built some golf courses in third-world countries. I've built golf courses in Communist countries. Golf is a force for good. It goes everywhere with the right platform because it delivers the right message, from education to hospitality to employment to tourism. Everywhere you go, golf is a force for good.

I'm blessed. I really am blessed that I've found a career and I've found an opportunity, as I look out into the future of my business world, about what golf has given me, this opportunity. I'm here for that reason and that reason only.

Q. Premier, considering the continued concerns that are raised by human rights advocates about this tour being a sports washing exercise for the Saudi regime, how do you justify the undisclosed millions of dollars that have been spent on this tournament to concerned members of the labor party, concerned members of your caucus, and concerned members of the South Australian community more broadly?

PETER MALINAUSKAS: Quite comfortably, because I think the answer to those questions best lie in the truth and the facts that we've got before us. If I deal with the second part of your question first, and I'll gladly deal with the first, the economic benefit of the South Australian government's investment in major events I think has been well demonstrated over the course of last weekend and already what we're seeing throughout the course of this weekend.

We established the Major Events Attraction Fund with a very deliberate purpose and set of objectives and key performance indicators that we wanted to measure those investments against, and thus far I think the evidence speaks for itself.

So in terms of the investment from the state government, we see the return and the value of it, and we'll continue to scrutinize that. We measure the performance after the fact, not just on the anticipation, which there is no shortage of in respect to LIV, and we measure that and we are rightly held to account for those KPIs.

In respect to the first element of your question, I think as a nation, and indeed South Australia, we've got a really proud track record of advocating on behalf of the cause of humanity generally when it comes to human rights considerations. All of the actions of the state government and the Commonwealth I think have remained consistent with those principles.

We're here now in a western liberal democracy, and you're asking me questions such as the one you've just put, and there's nothing with that; that's a good thing. I will always grab any opportunity I've got to advocate for the causes that we all share.

But this is about a golf tournament. There is no -- LIV Golf is here exclusively in its capacity putting on a high-quality and elite golf tournament.

Now, I accept and acknowledge that it's an incredibly competitive marketplace. Greg has already talked to the number of tours that exist within the golf market globally, and I also accept the fact that with that high degree of competition, particularly when you see a degree of disruption, there will be people that I think are motivated, if not incentivized monetarily, to advocate against the competition using whatever means they have at their disposal.

But sometimes I do think that that has been overlooked in the context of this discussion and this debate, but as a nation, as you are well aware, the Commonwealth government over a period of decades has actively chosen to engage with a whole range of very substantial trading partners, and Saudi Arabia is no exception, just pre-COVID only -- like I said, just prior to the pandemic, before borders shut down, South Australia welcomed with open arms the Saudi Arabia defense minister right here in Adelaide at the Land Forces conference without so much as a question from media outlets.

We sell extraordinary amounts of barley, beef, lamb, amongst other things to Saudi Arabia. It's a $3 billion trading partnership between Australia and Saudi Arabia. They are $4 billion worth of active investments in Australia alone.

So we choose as a country to actively trade with Saudi Arabia, the largest economy within the Middle East, and we do that knowingly, without at any step of the way compromising what we collectively believe in as a country.

But LIV is not a representative of Saudi Arabia. LIV is a golf tournament. LIV is a golf tour, and it's shaking things up, and I think that's a good thing.

I think the best thing they've done is acknowledged that in Australia, we have been actively deprived of highly professional -- the world's best golfers performing here in Australia in the size and the scale that is now occurring.

The moment there was an opportunity for Australia to embrace that, it doesn't surprise me one iota that they've actively chosen to do that in extraordinary volumes, and that's a good thing.

We're going to see tens of thousands of Australians walking around Grange Golf Club this weekend enjoying golf. That's a good thing, without qualification.

Q. Greg, will there ever be a women's LIV Golf Tour do you think?

GREG NORMAN: That is a discussion we have internally on a regular basis. I have personally had discussions with individual LPGA Tour players, LET Tour players, Ladies European Tour. 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.

From our perspective -- last year was a beta season. We had eight events. This year was our first season where we're kicking off. We can only drink out of a fire hydrant so much, so we have a lot of opportunities and initiatives coming across our plate. Our focus is to make sure this year we produce what we're producing here from day one, 2023, and then going forward we're looking what are the best opportunities to build on to what we have today.

The answer to the question is yes, we talk about it internally, and I have had discussions with individual lady players, professional players.

Q. Greg, I saw the clinics here yesterday, and I was wondering if you could tell us to what extent LIV is investing in grass-roots golf, and if you think that this is the right format to guarantee your league is safe for developing the next generation.

GREG NORMAN: I'll answer the latter part of your question first, the legacy. I've been asked this question a lot about my legacy, and I truly believe that my legacy from 20 years ago to my legacy today is two totally different things. My legacy of what I'm doing with LIV will be my legacy because it's the right thing to do.

It also showcases, to your point, about creating these new pathways that we have for players. We invested $300 million into the Asian Tour to give them the opportunity -- to a sleeping giant of a massive wealth of population of the game of golf. 65 percent of all golf courses in the world built today are from the GCC for the Asian Pacific Rim, 65 percent, and one third of the population of the world, maybe more, live in that region. You can see from just a logical business perspective, from where the game of golf is going for the next 25 years, maybe 30 years. I've seen it in Vietnam for the last eight to 12 years, and there's at least another 25 years to go in Vietnam alone.

So when you look at these opportunities the game of golf is delivering to and the powerful impact of these countries, the opportunity, you're also looking at the opportunity how do you reach down to these kids. In one year, in eight golf tournaments, LIV has taken the lid off the aging demographics of the golfing fan, which is 67 and a half years old that follow the PGA TOUR.

In one year we've taken that down 65 percent of our viewers and fans of 45 years and younger. So all of a sudden because of our product, it's now identified to a younger fan base.

So today, when I was going out here today, it's the first time we've had spectators in the pro-am. The number of kids that are out there that -- I'm a lot older than 60 years and older than some of these kids and they're coming up to me and going, thank you, thank you, thank you. I go, oh, my gosh, there it is. This is what it's all about. We're reaching down so much quicker than I ever anticipated.

Then you take into our CSR program. Again, we talk about it but we don't talk about it. But our CSR program is a massive effort globally to bring golf to certain regions of the world that have never had that exposure.

So from our perspective, our major goal is just to do what we're doing to create franchise value, but also spreading this cultural wealth across the world, and we are doing that today, and we will continue to do that, and I hope we reduce our 45 down to 35 down to 33 down to 32, and then you're going to have the next generation of the Cam Smiths of the world flooding and wanting to -- I actually make this comment to you. I was in Arkansas about four months ago looking at a venue, and I didn't realize the venue that I was at was the home venue for the Arkansas Razorbacks golf team, girls and boys. They knew -- they asked me if I would go and speak to them at the end of the day. Totally off-the-cuff, nothing rehearsed, nothing set up, and I spoke to them about LIV, because they only hear about LIV, they only read about LIV. A lot of that stuff is not factual.

So I spoke to these kids for maybe 45 minutes, standing there on the driving range, and without a shadow of any other doubt, they were saying, my gosh, this is not what we thought it was. I want to come play for LIV when I leave the college tour, when I leave college or leave my university or do that. LIV is where I want to go. And I go, how easy was that. Just tell the truth about what LIV is all about, now all of a sudden those university kids are speaking to other university kids, now all of a sudden we're creating this wave of interest into this younger audience of great golfers and the next talented American golfing generation.

That's what I feel so proud about, of unlocking or taking the lid off this informational factual highway.

Q. Mr. Norman, you've talked about the next 72 hours being vital. LIV is certainly on the upward trajectory, coming off of what you guys did at the Masters. This event here was 75,000 people coming. But I want to talk about the future a little bit. You've mentioned it a few times in this press conference. Is there talk of team expansion in the next coming years, and do you anticipate a line around the building, so to speak, of players wanting to come to the LIV Golf League?

GREG NORMAN: Well, that line is there. It's not an imaginary line. That line is already there. Cam could probably answer this more than I can because he was just playing at Augusta National. I know what my phone does, and I'm a generation removed from these guys.

So there is a massive interest of wanting to come and be on a Rippers team or be on a 4 Aces team. There is an incredible amount of interest. We're full. We have 48 of the best players in the world that we're very, very happy with. Our goal is to build those franchise values out.

Will there be relegation? Absolutely there's going to be relegation. We're a league, so there will be a relegation system in place like any other league, so there will be this pathway system we talked about with the Asian Tour and other opportunities, as well.

As we look into the future, the players want to come on board with us. They want to experience the experience that these guys are talking about. They're under contract for -- some of them for four years, some of them for five years. That's our responsibility that we have to have.

Q. Greg, picking up on another of your questions, the relationship with the other tours, DP World Tour obviously won their arbitration against LIV a couple of weeks ago. Where does that leave LIV with the DP World Tour now? Can there really be any mutually beneficial cooperation between you guys and the European Tour and the U.S. PGA Tour and those players involved in that, Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, is an appeal going to come? Are they going to revoke their DP World memberships? Where are we at?

GREG NORMAN: Well, I'm not going to go down the legal path and answer questions on behalf of the decision of other players what their decision is. Remember, you use one word there was "arbitration." It wasn't a court of law. Arbitration is different. It was a prerequisite of some of the writing in the agreement of how it had to take place. That's arbitration.

Things will play out as they should rightly play out in a court of law, and that's the way it goes. Like I said, I won't answer on behalf of the other players. You should go up to them and ask them independently and individually if you want.

But all I can tell you is this: From a LIV perspective, we'll always support our players. We always have said that since day one. We believe in where we're going, and like I've mentioned to you before about our product, and we're going to be unwavering in that commitment. We're going to stay on course on that.

I truly hope somewhere down the line, like the Masters, and I complimented the Masters about inviting the LIV players in, because the Masters and the majors should be Switzerland, and the DP World Tour wants to have the best players on their Tour, as well, too. The DP World Tour wants to have some of the most iconic players that ever represented Europe in the Ryder Cup on the Ryder Cup.

You know, as you look into the future with a crystal ball, they've got to make some interesting decisions for themselves, for the players and where we're going to go and what we're going to do. LIV is not changing anything, and we've always been consistent for the last 15 months of saying we're happy to sit down with you, we're happy to talk to you. We did with the DP World Tour. We've tried with the PGA Tour, consistently with zero, zilch, nothing. That's their choice. If that's your decision, fine, we're okay with that. So we'll just keep going and doing what we're doing.

Do I in my heart of hearts -- I'll put my player's hat back on and I'll put my representation of the game of golf back on. I do hope there gets to a position where there is resolution to this, because the game of golf doesn't need to suffer. These guys don't need to suffer. OWGR doesn't need to suffer.

Augusta National recognized that, and look what happened with their ratings when the LIV players came in. It was up 19 percent. Who was the benefactor of that? Augusta National, right?

So LIV is the force for good, and now guys want to play. They want to play in the majors. You don't think CBS, NBC, you don't think the corporations that sponsor those major championships don't want Cam Smith, the Open Champion, in their major tournament? Of course they do. It's a crying shame if they take their shallow view of -- caused by LIV, where because of another product they're going to ban these guys? Well, I think Augusta National proved that case point very clearly.

Q. Who is your pick to win this week? What team is going to win?

PETER MALINAUSKAS: Yeah, there's a few Aussies kicking around --

GREG NORMAN: Port Adelaide.

PETER MALINAUSKAS: Port has got West Coast on Saturday; it's a must-win.

No, I think Rippers are looking pretty good. We're pretty excited to have all four gentlemen here playing.

Like I said, Aussies love their golf. I think that's already been proven this weekend. But to have them represented all in one team is pretty exciting.

Naturally Cam gets all the focus, but Marc Leishman has been one of the most outstanding golfers that Australia has ever produced, and seeing Marc alone has -- if I had said to south Australians 12 months ago that Marc Leishman would be playing at Grange, there would have been thousands of people coming just to see that, and then Cam and the others, of course, just makes it even more special. Short answer, Rippers. That was pretty obvious, though, I wasn't going to say --

Q. Cam, who is the team to beat this week?

CAM SMITH: I don't know. I haven't seen -- I know Smash, I know Brooksy is playing well, I know Phil had a good last couple weeks, as well. There's a couple of guys to beat, I think.

Internally we're probably quietly confident. We've spent a lot of time out on the course. There's a lot of good memories, I think, for everyone on Australian golf courses, so yeah, we're quietly confident.

Q. Have you gotten any tips from Wade?

CAM SMITH: Yeah, Wade has been around. I've spoke to him a few times. I think he's been pulling me for a beer more than tips on the golf course.

Q. Greg, who's your pick? What team is going to take it home this week?

GREG NORMAN: I think the Grange Golf Club is going to take it home because the golf course is going to evolve, and what you see on the golf course today, and as players we know it, the golf course is going to change its footprint as the weather changes. Today the greens are fast, tomorrow they'll be a little faster, a little drier. So it's going to be interesting to see how some of these players approach this golf course because there's an art to playing the Grange Golf Club. It's not as easy as what you think it is when the greens get firm and fast. I'm going to be the true commissioner, and I'm going to say the Grange Golf Club is going to be the one to win.

THE MODERATOR: Gentlemen, thank you so much for joining us. Thank you for hosting us in South Australia and Adelaide.