Report: Norman to become the new commissioner of Saudi tour

The newish Saudi-backed golf series looks set to move on at some pace with the news that Greg Norman will be the new commissioner for the proposed circuit.

There was a meeting with a select group of media in New York, so expect more details to follow soon, but the big news centres around Norman being the front-and-centre face of the new tour.

It remains unclear how the new tour will look. The Saudis have previously discussed the Premier Golf League and Super Golf League, with a team concept, huge purses and team captains, but the details remain sketchy as to what things might look like in the future.

The Saudi International was a European Tour event until this year but it has now been sanctioned by the Asian Tour following a reported $100m investment. Last summer a strategic alliance was announced between the two tours which was, generally speaking, a more to stifle the Saudi’s rival tour and it has been reported that eight PGA Tour players have asked for permission to play in the tournament in February.

That list includes the defending champion Dustin Johnson, Graeme McDowell, Abraham Ancer, Lee Westwood, Tommy Fleetwood, Henrik Stenson, Kevin Na and Jason Kokrak.