The Shark Threatens

Golf World reported this week that Greg Norman has retained attorney Leonard Decof to assist him in a lawsuit against the PGA Tour. Norman, a PGA Tour member, wants to review the PGA Tours financial records. The PGA Tour will not release the information, although they are willing to meet and discuss the issue with Norman.

The dispute stems from Norman's interest in forming a Major Champions Tour for senior Major winners. An executive with Fox Television is involved in the effort to form the new Tour. Norman, who recently turned 50, has been vague about committing to the existing Senior PGA Tour.

The brewing legal dispute concerns whether Norman, as a PGA Tour member, is entitled to access to the financial records of the PGA Tour. He is not the first to ask. He first asked privately, then publicly and has recently retained Decof. Decof is a "longtime nemesis" of the PGA Tour, having represented Ping and other manufacturers against the PGA Tour in antritrust litigation regarding square groove technology on irons. He also represented Callaway in the dispute over the legality of its ERC driver.

The interesting personal subtext of the dispute stems from Norman's attempt in the 1990s to start a World Golf Tour, an effort that PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem snuffed. Norman has described the experience as his worst experience in golf and clearly holds Finchem responsible for vilifying Norman as a person trying to hurt the game. With this much bad blood, it will be interesting to see how the dispute develops.

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