Greg Norman was aware that his decision to be CEO of LIV Golf would affect his future. The R&A decided not to invite him to compete in the Celebration of Champions or attend the Champions’ Dinner. The R&A released a statement;; “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.” Speaking to Australian Golf Digest, Greg Norman revealed that he was surprised by this decision, given their position in the golf world.
“I would have thought the R&A would have stayed above it all given their position in world golf,” Norman said. “(It’s) petty, as all I have done is promote and grow the game of golf globally, on and off the golf course, for more than four decades.”
Martin Slumbers on celebrating
CEO Martin Slumbers revealed in his speech that they are preparing a special celebration and that their goal is to promote golf and honor all those who are past, present and future legends of this sport.
“We have planned a very special celebration of golf for fans to attend, and I’m sure they will be excited at the prospect of watching the greatest names in golf, as well as the future stars of the sport, come together to play over the Old Course at St.
Andrews,” Slumbers said on Friday. “We are deliberately inviting a field that represents the past, present and future of this game we all love and reflects our purpose to ensure that golf is seen as welcoming, accessible and can be played by anyone who wants to”.
