19th Hole
Greg Norman creates storm by falsely claiming LPGA Tour is sponsored by Saudi Oil Company Aramco

From the initial Mickelsongate to an interview that hasn’t happened yet, the golf world continues to analyze every press conference, email, and statement released by the LIV organization and the PGA and DP World Tours.
- Related: ‘We just won’t play’ – Major champ says PGA Tour pros could strike if LIV ban is overturned
Much of the controversy surrounds the answers given to the question, “Why?”
At the start of the controversial LIV series, much of the furore surrounded players that jumped from the ‘Mother Ship’ (PGA/DP) to a tour run and funded via a company closely related to the Saudi Kingdom, one that has received worldwide condemnation for its human rights records.
Earlier press interviews were awkward, and at least one competitor, Graeme McDowell, has spoken about the way he has been treated by the wider golf public.
Reasons given for the departure to the rebel tour have been as ‘leverage’ against current playing/media conditions issued by the main tours, that there would be ‘more time to be spent with family’, even that the 54-hole shotgun start is a far more attractive proposition than the traditional 72-hole split tee-time.
LIV CEO Greg Norman has also often come to the microphone to say he doesn’t quite understand the mass anger at LIV and its paymasters, given that Saudi Arabia is very much involved with some of the biggest companies in the world and many other sporting competitions.
However, his recent comment in an interview with Fox News reporter Tucker Carlson has set the golf world alight, in particular those involved with the LPGA.
During the report, Norman again says he cannot understand the attitude of many against LIV itself, stating that:
“The @LPGA Tour is sponsored by Aramco.”
Carlson raises his eyebrows and asks, “Literally?” before Norman again confirms his belief saying “the largest sponsor of women’s golf in the world is Aramco.”
As can be seen by the reaction from LPGA player Brittany Lincicome, this has not gone down well.
150 percent NOT TRUE ??? https://t.co/grZNB487nV
— Brittany Lincicome (@Brittany1golf) August 2, 2022
A host of names have taken to social media to refute Norman’s statement, with Lincicome, Lisa Cornwell, ex-Golf Channel broadcaster, and Beth Ann Nichols, Golfweek senior writer, amongst those that were at pains to point out that Aramco are associated with the Ladies European Tour rather than the US version and only as sponsors.
In a similar way to the feeder link between the PGA and DP World tours, the LPGA has an association with the LET, supporting the tour in both a financial and stabilizing role. However, with the Aramco series a sponsored event, it is a far cry from being a direct employer, as with LIV.
Cornwell, who resigned from the Golf Channel amidst ‘mistreatment’ at the end of 2020, was at pains to ask:
“How can the CEO of LIV Golf get this wrong? Good Lord…”
Much of Twitter golf were posting their views, with one user asking professional golfer Sarah Kemp, “Does Aramco sponsor the LPGA Tour? Yes or No?” and received the simple answer, “No.”
He then asks, “So your position is No, but how about the LPGA Tour players that play in their sponsored tournaments? It appears that they do sponsor golf and until LIV was involved, those players had no problems taking the money. Please explain.”
In a separate thread but counteracting that stance, golf podcast host John Ziegler pointed out:
“It’s sad that Tucker Carlson, who I really like & once worked for, apparently fell for this BS analogy. Having a sponsor who does business with, or is even part owned by the Saudis, is NOT the same thing as the Saudis themselves creating a fake golf tour as a political PR effort!”
In another tweet, Kemp explains her stance against the comment that any Saudi company is the largest sponsor in the ladies’ game:
“Aramco is also NOT the largest sponsor in women’s golf. The @CMEGroupLPGA, a solo-sponsored event, has a higher purse than all 6 Aramco events combined.”
Hugely respected journalist who covers women’s golf extensively, Beth Ann Nichols then weighed in saying:
“The six Aramco events are on the LET schedule, not the LPGA! And yes, the LPGA and LET united several years ago in a joint venture. They have a partnership. But those are not LPGA events.”
In the week of the Women’s British Open, somehow, the LIV organization has come to the fore of the golfing world again.
More from the 19th Hole
19th Hole
‘Don’t think I’ll sleep well tonight’ – LPGA pro offers candid take following rough AIG Women’s Open finish

An opening round of 77 left LPGA pro Jenny Shin with a mountain to climb at last week’s AIG Women’s Open.
However, fighting back with rounds of 69 and 67, Shin found herself six shots off the lead and just outside the top 10 heading into Sunday as she went in search of her first major victory.
Shin, who won the US Girls’ Junior at just 13, couldn’t back those rounds up on Sunday, though, and after playing her opening nine holes of the final round in level par, she then bogeyed three holes coming home to slip down the leaderboard and eventually finish T23.
Taking to X following the final round, Shin offered a frustrated and honest take on how she was feeling, posting: “Don’t think I’ll sleep well tonight. What a crappy way to finish.”
Don’t think I’ll sleep well tonight. What a crappy way to finish
— Jenny Shin (@JennyShin_LPGA) August 3, 2025
Shin has made 11 cuts in 13 starts on the LPGA Tour this season, but has been plagued by frustrating Sunday finishes throughout the year. Shin ranks 102nd on tour this year out of 155 for Round 4 scoring in 2025.
Miyu Yamashita won the 2025 AIG Women’s Open with a composed final round of 70 to win her first major of her career by two strokes.
19th Hole
How a late golf ball change helped Cameron Young win for first time on PGA Tour

Cameron Young won the Wyndham Championship on Sunday for his first victory on the PGA Tour.
Young dominated all weekend at TPC Sedgefield, running away from the pack to win by six strokes and put himself in contention for a Ryder Cup pick in September.
Ahead of the event, the 28-year-old switched to a Pro V1x prototype golf ball for the first time, following recent testing sessions with the Titleist Golf Ball R&D team.
Interestingly, Young played a practice round accompanied by Fordie Pitts, Titleist’s Director of Tour Research & Validation, at TPC Schedule early last week with both his usual Pro V1 Left Dot ball and the new Pro V1x prototype.
Per Titleist, by the second hole Young was exclusively hitting shots with the Pro V1x prototype.
“We weren’t sure if he was going to test it this week, but as he was warming up, he asked to hit a couple on the range,” Pitts said. “He was then curious to see some shots out on the course. Performance-wise, he was hitting tight draws everywhere. His misses were staying more in play. He hit some, what he would call ‘11 o’clock shots,’ where again he’s taking a little something off it. He had great control there.”
According to Titleist, the main validation came on Tuesday on the seventh hole of his practice round. The par 3 that played between 184 and 225 yards during the tournament called for a 5-iron from Young, or so he thought. Believing there was “no way” he could get a 6-iron to the flag with his Left Dot, Young struck a 5-iron with the Pro V1x prototype and was stunned to see the ball land right by the hole.
“He then hits this 6-iron [with the Pro V1x prototype] absolutely dead at the flag, and it lands right next to the pin, ending up just past it,” Pitts said. “And his response was, ‘remarkable.’ He couldn’t believe that he got that club there.”
Following nine holes on Tuesday and a further nine on Wednesday, Young asked the Titleist team to put the ProV1x balls in his locker. The rest, as they say, is history.
19th Hole
Rickie Fowler makes equipment change to ‘something that’s a little easier on the body’

Rickie Fowler fired an opening round of one-under par on Thursday at the Wyndham Championship, as the Californian looks to make a FedEx Cup playoff push.
Fowler is currently 61st in the standings, so will need a strong couple of weeks to extend his season until the BMW Championship, where only the top 50 in the standings will tee it up.
Heading into the final stretch of the season, Fowler has made an equipment switch of note, changing into new iron shafts, as well as making a switch to his driver shaft.
The 36-year-old revealed this week that he has switched from his usual KBS Tour C-Taper 125-gram steel shafts to the graphite Aerotech SteelFiber 125cw shafts in his Cobra King Tour irons, a change he first put into play at last month’s Travelers Championship.
Speaking on the change to reporters this week, Fowler made note that the graphite shafts offer “something that’s a little easier on the body.”
“I mean, went to the week of Travelers, so been in for, I guess that’s a little over a month now. Something that’s a little easier on the body and seemed to get very similar numbers to where I was at. Yeah, it’s gone well so far.”
Fowler has also made a driver shaft change, switching out his Mitsubishi Diamana WB 73 TX for a UST Mamiya Lin-Q Proto V1 6 TX driver shaft in his Cobra DS-Adapt X, which he first implemented a couple of weeks ago at the John Deere Classic.
However, according to Fowler himself, the testing and potential changes are not done yet.
“Probably do some more testing in some different weight configurations with them once I get some time. Yeah, I feel like we’re always trying to search, one, to get better but are there ways to make things easier, whether that’s physically, mentally, whatever it may be. So yeah, I thought they were good enough to obviously put into play and looking forward to doing some more testing.”
Fowler gets his second round at TPC Sedgefield underway at 7.23 a.m ET on Friday.