Greg Norman on Jamal Khashoggi murder: ‘We’ve all made mistakes’

Australian golf great Greg Norman said late Wednesday when questioned about the brutal 2018 killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi that “we’ve all made mistakes.”

“Everybody has owned up to it, right?” Norman asked while discussing a Saudi-banked invitational golf series, according to newspaper The Times. “It has been spoken about, from what I’ve read, going on what you guys reported. Take ownership, no matter what it is.” 

“Look, we’ve all made mistakes and you just want to learn from those mistakes and how you can correct them going forward,” Norman added during his remarks to reporters at a club near St. Albans, England, according to the London newspaper.

Khashoggi, a U.S.-based journalist, was murdered in 2018 in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. A CIA report later determined Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered his death.

When later asked by Sky Sports about Khashoggi and a mass execution carried out by the Saudi government that took place earlier this year, the golfer said it is “reprehensible what happened with Khashoggi.

“Own up to it, talk about it,” he said. “But if you go back into Saudi Arabia, they’re making a cultural change from within to change that. They don’t want to have that stigma sitting over there.”

“I do not answer to Saudi Arabia,” he added in the interview.

The two-time majors champion is the CEO of a new Saudi-backed golf league known as LIV Golf Invitational. The invitational is funded in large part by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, USA Today noted.

The PGA Tour has refused to provide releases for players to play in the invitational in London next month. 

“We have notified those who have applied that their request has been declined in accordance with the PGA Tour Tournament Regulations. As such, Tour members are not authorized to participate in the Saudi Golf League’s London event under our regulations,” the PGA said in a memo to players said, according to ESPN. 

Norman has called that decision “anti-golfer, anti-fan, and anti-competitive.”