Greg Norman, who's the CEO and commissioner of the controversial Saudi-backed LIV Golf Sequence, isn’t welcome on the British Open’s Celebration of Champions occasion on Monday or subsequent week’s Champions’ Dinner at St. Andrews.
The R&A knowledgeable the two-time British Open champion that he received’t be allowed to attend both occasion forward of the yr’s last main championship. Norman, who received the Open at Turnberry in 1986 and at Royal St. George’s in 1993, would have been eligible to play within the four-hole exhibition in addition to attend the annual dinner.
“The one hundred and fiftieth Open is a particularly necessary milestone for golf and we wish to be certain that the main target stays on celebrating the championship and its heritage,” the R&A, which knowledgeable the 67-year-old of the information on Saturday, mentioned in a press release. “Sadly, we don't imagine that will be the case if Greg have been to attend. We hope that when circumstances permit Greg will have the ability to attend once more in future.”
Norman is amongst these on the heart of the controversy surrounding LIV Golf, which has fractured the game by poaching quite a few golf’s stars from the PGA Tour, together with Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau.
“I’m disenchanted,” Norman advised Australian Golf Digest on Saturday. “I'd have thought the R&A would have stayed above all of it given their place in world golf. [It’s] petty, as all I've finished is promote and develop the sport golf golf globally, on and off the golf course, for greater than 4 a long time.”
The league, which options 54-hole tournaments with no reduce and assured cash, has drawn the ire of quite a few organizations, together with a 9/11 survivors group as a result of it's financially backed by the Saudi Arabian authorities. It is usually extensively seen as getting used to sportswash the nation’s abhorrent human rights document.
In response to the league’s disruption of the sport, the PGA Tour has suspended gamers who've signed up for the rival circuit, whereas the DP World Tour (previously the European Tour) is fining gamers 100,000 kilos ($120,000) for every LIV event they play.
The R&A is permitting gamers from LIV Golf to compete within the British Open, with the USGA having finished the identical for final month’s U.S. Open as a result of they're open to anybody who qualifies.
Earlier this yr, Norman had sought a particular exemption to play within the British Open, which is marking its one hundred and fiftieth anniversary. The event permits exemptions for previous champions aged 60 or below, or for many who have received the Open within the final 10 years. Norman was denied his request and didn't attempt to qualify.
Post a Comment