Greg Norman is one of the great champions of the British Open.
When the revered golf tournament celebrates its 150th anniversary next week, it will not be welcome. The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews issued a statement Saturday announcing that he had contacted Norman to tell him not to show up for the pre-championship parties next weekend.
“In response to inquiries about the field of The R&A Celebration of Champions and the Champions Dinner, we can confirm that we contacted Greg Norman to let him know that we decided not to invite him to attend on this occasion.” says the statement. “The 150th Open is an extremely important milestone for golf and we want to make sure the focus remains on the celebration of the Championship and its heritage.
“Unfortunately, we don’t think that would be the case if Greg attended. Hopefully when circumstances allow, Greg will be able to attend again in the future.”
The statement did not explicitly mention LIV Golf. He doesn’t have any either. The hint at the finish line is clear. If Norman cuts ties with the new golf league backed by Saudi Arabia, he will be back with the thanks of R&A. Until then, it doesn’t seem to be welcome.
Greg Norman is not invited to the St. Andrews. (Steven Paston / PA Images via Getty Images)
The story of the Norman Open overshadowed by the ties of LIV Golf
Norman won the 1986 British Open at Turnberry and again at Royal St George’s in 1993. He made a playoff at the Royal Troon in 1989 which was won by Mark Calcavecchia. His two wins at the British Open are the only major victories on his Hall of Fame resume.
As CEO of LIV Golf, Norman is now the public face of the league that has turned the PGA Tour upside down and drawn a dividing line between the best players in the world. The league offered lucrative sums of money to attract elite talent and has done so successfully with Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau and Phil Mickelson among its ranks.
The billions in league funding come from a Saudi regime with a long history of human rights abuses. LIV Golf participants have been widely criticized for helping Saudis “sportily wash” their history of human rights atrocities. Hatice Cengiz, the pledge of murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi, criticized LIV Golf participants in June for “supporting the killers.”
The story goes on
The PGA Tour has rejected players playing LIV Golf, meaning it moves forward without some of the game’s biggest stars. Other prominent players remain, such as Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas and Tiger Woods. McIlroy and Thomas have not been shy in their contempt for the rebel league. Meanwhile, the major tournaments not directly affiliated with the PGA Tour (the U.S. Open and the British Open so far) continue to welcome LIV golfers. For now. But Norman is not invited to the St Andrews party.
answers in Norman
What does Norman think of all this? He is ready to forgive and forget Khashoggi’s murder. “We have all made mistakes,” Norman said in May about the journalist’s death that U.S. intelligence concluded was ordered by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
He has since accused the PGA Tour of “deafening hypocrisy” for its criticism of the LIV golf course. As for Saturday’s R&A resentment, Norman is “disappointed.” But he remains impertinent.
“I’m disappointed,” Norman told Australia Golf Digest. “I would have thought that R&A would have stayed above all given its position in world golf. (It’s) petty, because all I’ve done is promote and grow the game of golf globally, inside and out. of the golf course, for more than four decades “.