Greg Norman makes another outlandish LIV claim after Masters appearance
LIV Golf commissioner Greg Norman says he was told he was doing a ‘fantastic job’ whilst mixing with the patrons at the 2024 Masters.
Greg Norman says he was told he was doing a ‘fantastic job’ with LIV Golf after he mixed with the crowds during the last day of practice at the 2024 Masters.
The 69-year-old’s presence at the first major of the year was a complete surprise, despite reports earlier in the week that Augusta National chiefs had extended invitations to high-ranking executives from the breakaway tour.
It was unclear in what capacity Norman was attending, but it later emerged The Great White Shark was a paying customer who was there to cheer on the 13 LIV players in the field.
Norman told the Washington Post he believes the reception he received at Augusta National confirmed that what he is doing with LIV Golf ‘fits within the ecosystem’ of the men’s game.
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He said: “Walking around here today, there’s not one person who said to me, ‘Why did you do LIV?’ There’s been hundreds of people, even security guys, stopping me, saying, ‘Hey, what you’re doing is fantastic.’
“To me, that tells you that what we have and the platform fits within the ecosystem, and it’s good for the game of golf.”
Norman joined LIV as their commissioner in 2022 and has since been one of the most polarising figures in the men’s game.
The Australian kicked off golf’s ‘civil war’ with scathing emails to the PGA Tour commissioner, Jay Monahan, when the established North American circuit warned players joining the Saudi-backed league they would face bans.
“Surely you jest?” he memorably wrote to Monahan.
And at the height of golf’s schism Norman labelled Rory McIlroy ‘brainwashed’.
McIlroy hit back with his own publics insults and at one point called for Norman to resign from his position when rumblings of a peace deal first surfaced in November 2022.
“I think Greg needs to go,” McIlroy previously said. “I think he just needs to exit stage left.”
Norman was also persona non grata at the landmark 150th Open at St. Andrews owing to the unprecedented disruption in the sport.
The two-time Open champion also revealed he wasn’t invited to last year’s Masters when Jon Rahm won.
At the time Rahm was still a PGA Tour player but he later joined LIV for a reported £450m ($566.4m).
Rahm told reporters before his title defence he hoped his move to LIV would’ve been the tipping point in reunifying the game.
As for Norman, he previously described the snub from Augusta as disappointing. “It’s so petty,” he said.
“I’m here because we have 13 players that won 10 Masters between them,” he added.
“So I’m here just to support them, do the best I can to show them, ‘Hey, you know, the boss is here rooting for you.’
“There’s probably a couple that have been overlooked that should be in.
“What is that number? I’m not going to give it a definitive number, but they’re definitely quality players that have done incredible performances over the last six to nine months that are worthy of it.”
Norman was likely alluding to LIV’s Talor Gooch, who was the breakaway tour’s individual champion in 2024.
Gooch has not qualified for the four majors this year owing to his slide down the world rankings.
Some LIV players have floated the idea that the majors could offer exemptions for players via their own order of merit.
Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley poured cold water on that idea before the start of this year’s major.
“I think it will be difficult to establish any type of point system that had any connection to the rest of the world of golf because they’re basically, not totally, but for the most part, a closed shop,” Ridley said of the breakaway tour.
