R&A confirms it has not invited LIV Golf chief Greg Norman to celebratory events at St Andrews ahead of the 150th Open – as the two-time champion would take the ‘focus’ away from the event
- Greg Norman won the Open in 1986 and 1993 but is now the CEO of LIV Golf
- The Saudi-backed rebel tour has caused a rift in the men’s professional game
- Other former champions will take part in a four-hole challenge on the Old Course
- But Norman’s potential presence has been viewed as an unwelcome distraction
The R&A has confirmed that it chose not to invite Greg Norman to compete in the Celebration of Champions or attend the Champions’ Dinner ahead of the 150th Open at St Andrews.
Norman won the Open in 1986 and 1993 but is now the CEO of LIV Golf, the Saudi-backed circuit which has caused a rift in the men’s professional game after enticing players to compete in their £20million, 48-man, 54-hole events.
And while other former champions will take part in a four-hole challenge on the Old Course on Monday, Norman’s potential presence has clearly been viewed as an unwelcome distraction.
In a statement, the R&A said: ‘In response to enquiries regarding the R&A Celebration of Champions field and the Champions’ Dinner, we can confirm that we contacted Greg Norman to advise him that we decided not to invite him to attend on this occasion.
‘The 150th Open is an extremely important milestone for golf and we want to ensure that the focus remains on celebrating the Championship and its heritage.
‘Unfortunately, we do not believe that would be the case if Greg were to attend. We hope that when circumstances allow Greg will be able to attend again in future.’
LIV Golf has so far staged two of its planned eight events in 2022, with 2017 Open champion Jordan Spieth describing rumours that he was considering joining the breakaway circuit as ‘categorically untrue’ on Friday evening.
Greg Norman won the Open in 1986 and 1993 but is now the CEO of Saudi-backed LIV Golf
The R&A believe Norman’s presence would be an unwelcome distraction at St Andrews
The rebel tour has already poached some of the PGA Tour’s biggest names, including six-time major winner Phil Mickelson, former world No 1 Dustin Johnson and European stars Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood.
Those who have defected have been widely condemned because of the human rights abuses carried out by the Saudi regime.
The PGA Tour banned rebel players with immediate effect moments after they teed off at the inaugural LIV event at Centurion Golf Club in June.
Meanwhile, famed US sports broadcaster Bob Costas described the huge cheques on offer to players – the first seven events have $20million purses – as ‘blood money’.
The 67-year-old pictured with inaugural LIV Golf Invitational winner Charl Schwartzel
Former world No 1 Norman, 67, has largely stayed quiet amid the criticism, but slammed the PGA Tour for ‘deafening hypocrisy’ last month.
‘I’m disappointed people go down that [blood money] path, quite honestly,’ Norman told Fox News.
‘Look, if they want to look at it in prism, then why does the PGA Tour have 23 sponsors doing 40-plus billion dollars’ worth of business with Saudi Arabia?
Six-time major winner Phil Mickelson has also defected to the Saudi-backed breakaway league
‘Why is it okay for the sponsors? Why is it okay that there’s a Saudi sponsor, Aramco, the largest sponsor of women’s golf in the world? Why is it okay for them? Why is it not okay for these players?
‘Will [PGA Tour commissioner] Jay Monahan go to each and every one of those CEOs of the 23 companies that are investing into Saudi Arabia and suspend them and ban them?
‘The hypocrisy in all this, it’s so loud. It’s deafening.’
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