Greg Norman announced the addition of two key executives to his staff at LIV Golf Investments, the group that announced his hiring as CEO last week and that is behind an effort to start a new golf league where the golf Hall of Famer will serve as commissioner.
Ron Cross, a former executive at the PGA Tour and Augusta National, will be the organization’s chief events officer. And Sean Bratches, a former executive at ESPN and most recently with Formula 1, will be the LIV Golf’s chief commercial officer.
Norman said last week that LIV Golf Investments was putting $200 million into the Asian Tour to start a 10-tournament series of marquee events that is to begin in 2022. Those tournaments, although not clarified, are expected to serve as a feeder tour to the new league he will run as well as a sanctioning vehicle for world ranking points.
Cross most recently worked at the PGA Tour as senior vice president of corporate affairs. Prior to that, he was special assistant to commissioner Jay Monahan and at one time prior to working at Augusta National he was executive director of the Players Championship. Cross also worked as a senior director at Augusta National for eight years and helped with various grow-the-game initiatives including the Drive, Chip & Putt, the Asia-Pacific Amateur and the Latin-America Amateur.
Bratches was executive vice president of sales and marketing and served on the board of directors at ESPN before becoming managing director of commercial operations for Formula 1.
“We believe the game of golf is poised to grow on a global scale and we are ready to make the necessary strategic investments to support its growth,” Norman said in a statement.