Momentum for the so-called Saudi Golf League appears to have stalled, after several leading players distanced themselves from the project in the wake of Phil Mickelson's remarkable admissions about the "sportswashing" project.

Mickelson has apologised and is taking a break from golf.

Yet Norman, chief executive of LIV Golf Enterprises, the company behind the breakaway and majority owned by the Public Investment Fund which operates on behalf of the Saudi Government, has penned a defiant open letter to PGA Tour commission Jay Monahan.

In it, Norman accuses Monahan - who chairs the International Golf Federation Board - of "bullying and threatening" players and casts doubts over whether a lifetime ban from the PGA Tour for players who take part in the breakaway would stand up in court.

"Sure you jest", begins the punchy letter.

"For decades, I have fought for the rights of players to enjoy a career in which they are rewarded fully and properly for their efforts. 

"They are one-in-a-million athletes. 

"Yet for decades, the Tour has put its own financial ambitions ahead of the players, and every player on the tour knows it. 

"The Tour is the Players Tour not your administration's Tour. 

"Why do you call the crown jewel in all tournaments outside the Majors 'The Players Championship' and not 'The Administration's Championship?'

"But when you try to bluff and intimidate players by bullying and threatening them, you are guilty of going too far, being unfair, and you likely are in violation of the law."

Norman goes on to state "you can't stop players from playing golf" and cites a legal opinion that mooted bans from the PGA Tour for players who take part in Saudi Golf League tournaments would violate American antitrust laws.

The Australian, twice a major winner as a player, also suggests the Saudi Golf League and PGA Tour could coexist.

"Competition in all aspects of life, sport, and business is healthy and the best players deserve to be well compensated, which is why so many players have expressed an interest in playing in a new league.

"But when you threaten to end players' careers and when you engage in unfair labor [sic] practices with your web of player restrictions, you demonstrate exactly why players are open minded about joining a league that treats players well, respects them, and compensates them according to their true worth.

"Commissioner - this is just the beginning.

"It is certainly not the end."

Norman's threat contrasts to the assessment of four-time major winner Rory McIlroy, who called the Saudi Golf League "dead in the water".

McIlroy, who represented Ireland at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and chairs the PGA Tour Player Advisory Council, also put the boot into Mickelson, who helped write the Saudi Golf League operating agreement.

"I don't want to kick someone while he's down, obviously, but I thought they [Mickelson's comments] were naïve, selfish, egotistical, ignorant," McIlroy said of Mickelson's remarks on the Saudi Golf League.

Mickelson admitted the project was "sportswashing", as reported by Fire Pit Collective, claiming the Saudi partners were "scary motherfuckers to get involved with" and "have a horrible record on human rights".

Yet he defended the breakaway as being in players' best interests as the PGA Tour is "really a dictatorship".

Mickelson has since apologised, lost several sponsors and announced a break from the game.