Masters head says Greg Norman wasn’t invited to limit LIV drama

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AUGUSTA, Ga. — Augusta National Golf Club president Fred Ridley confirmed that LIV Golf CEO and commissioner Greg Norman was not invited to the 87th Masters this week. Ridley said decision was made to ensure that attention was focused on tournament and players rather than LIV Golf’s ongoing dispute with PGA Tour. “We didn’t send an invitation to Mr. Norman,” Ridley said at a news conference Wednesday. “The primary issue, and driver here, is that I want to focus on Masters competition this week, great players that participated, greatest players in world. We would honor our invitation criteria and act on those criteria.” Ridley said Norman, a former world number 1 golfer who is a three-time runner-up at Masters, has only attended the tournament twice in past 10 years, and one of those weeks was working as an analyst for Sirius XM Radio. Norman described Augusta National’s decision not to invite him as “trivial” in an interview with The Telegraph of London this week. PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and DP World Tour CEO Keith Pelley join the Masters. “Oddly enough, I wasn’t invited,” Norman said. “Before I was always a big winner, but they only sent me a field clearance last year and this time nothing, nothing. I’m disappointed because it’s so minor, but of course I’ll be watching anyway.” LIV Golf a handful of players filed a federal antitrust suit against the PGA Tour last year, accusing it of using its monopoly power to distort competition and collaborating with majors golf governing bodies. A US Justice Department investigation has thrown Augusta National into turmoil. Norman told media in his native Australia that he would never be invited to the Masters. Ridley wasn’t ready to go that far. “This question is hard to answer because I don’t know where the world will be in the next year or two from now,” Ridley said. But I told you why you weren’t invited this year.” Tensions between some PGA Tour members and LIV Golf players appear to have subsided this week, as players from both sides focus on the first major championship of the season, Ridley said. “The weather is really good here this week,” Ridley said. “I noticed that the players were interacting. At Champions Dinner last night, I didn’t know that anything out of the norm was going on in world of professional golf. So I think that’s going to happen and I’m hopeful.” The week can make people think in a slightly different direction and everything will change.” Augusta National Golf Club president Fred Ridley wants limit focus on ongoing saga between LIV Golf and PGA Tour, which led decision not invite LIV CEO and commissioner Greg Norman this week’s Masters. Ross Kinnaird Augusta National Golf Club has announced a few eligible changes for the 2024 tournament, including an exemption for the current NCAA Division I men’s individual champion. Vanderbilt’s NCAA champion Gordon Sargent plays by special invitation this week. He is the first amateur to receive a special invitation since Australian Aaron Baddeley in 2000. “As I mentioned, regarding the NCAA champion, this is a major amateur championship, and I thought it was time for us to acknowledge that,” Ridley said. “And we couldn’t be happier to have Gordon here this week. We’re coding that forward now.” The NCAA women’s individual champion will qualify for the Augusta National Women’s Amateurs. Two other viable changes for 2024 relate to the PGA Round. Basically, with full point allocation, they ensure that winners of fall tournaments earn a spot in Masters, and that players competing in end-of-season Tour Championship must also qualify to play under PGA Tour rules. masters. Talor Gooch qualified for the Tour Championship last year, but was not allowed to compete because Monahan had him suspended for playing at LIV Golf events without conflicting event clearance. Otherwise, Gooch would have qualified for Masters as he was placed in Top 50 of Official World Golf Rankings at end of last year. “We look at our qualifications every year, but there are changes,” Ridley said. “Things are changing and we need to make sure we’re flexible about it. So I’m sure there will be changes in the future, but nothing beyond what I announced this morning.” Ridley also weighed in on club’s position regarding proposed rule that would allow the United States Golf Association and R&A to have option of requiring tours and tournaments elite male players to use a golf ball by reducing distances by placing limits on how far golf ball can be hit. about 14 to 15 yards on average for the tallest hitters with the highest clubhead velocities. The new rules, which will not affect recreational players, will come into effect in January 2026, if adopted. Governing bodies receive feedback by 14 August. “I think we generally sup