The Open Championship news: All the latest on the British open and Greg Norman Saudi controversy
The move to ban Greg Norman from the British Open has blown up in the faces of Royal and Ancient golf club officials. And their latest comments are unlikely to help.
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Royal and Ancient golf club officials have defended the contentious decision to exclude Australia’s Greg Norman from the 150th British Open celebrations with a bizarre explanation after the move blew up in their faces.
Facing increasing criticism for banning the two-time champion because of his links to the rebel LIV series that many of the game’s top players have already signed up for, the R&A boss Martin Slumbers revealed that officials decided to withdraw Norman’s invitation over fears his presence would overshadow the tournament.
“This is a very important week for golf. This is the oldest championship. It’s the original championship,” Slumbers said.
“We are absolutely determined to ensure that this goes down in history as about The 150th Open. We decided that there would be, based on noise that I was receiving from multiple sources, that that was going to be potentially unlikely.
“We decided that we didn’t want the distraction. We wanted to ensure that the conversation was all about this week and playing golf and balls in the air.”
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The irony, which hasn’t been lost on anyone, is that the move has completely backfired because the only topic of conversation in the lead-to the most anticipated major in golf history has been Norman’s ban and the rebel LIV series.
Slumbers himself devoted all of his annual conference with the media discussing the rebel league, raising the topic himself before he was even asked a single question about it.
“Professional golfers are entitled to choose where they want to play and to accept the prize money that’s offered to them,” he said.
“I have absolutely no issue with that at all. But there is no such thing as a free lunch.
“I believe the model we’ve seen at Centurion and Pumpkin Ridge is not in the best long-term interests of the sport as a whole and is entirely driven by money.
“We believe it undermines the merit-based culture and the spirit of open competition that makes golf so special.”
Quizzed specifically about why an invitation to Norman - who won the British Open in 1986 and 1993 - to participate in an exhibition tournament then attend a dinner commemorating past British Open champions was revoked, Slumpers offered another curious reply.
“Greg hasn’t been here since 2010. He didn’t come in 2015,” he said.
“In fact, it’s many years since he’s even been to The Open. So there would have been another reason for that.
“So it was very clear to protect the integrity of this week.”
Golf officials are grappling with what to do about the Saudi-backed rebel league, which has lured some of the biggest names in the game away from the established tours with huge financial offerings.
The PGA has banned any players who have signed with LIV from the American tour but the R&A, the ruling body for golf outside of the US, is still figuring things out, though Slumbers said the game’s custodians don’t want to block leading players from competing at the British Open.
Major champions including Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Louis Oosthuizen and Sergio Garcia have all signed for the LIV Series and have been allowed to play this year’s championship.
“I never said the best golfers will not be able to play,” Slumbers said.
“We will hold totally true to The Open being open to anybody.
“But we may well look at how you get into that, whether it’s an exemption or a need to qualify through our qualifying process.”
Aussie great backs Norman
Australian golf legend Adam Scott has come out swinging in support of Greg Norman after the sport’s snooty officials banned the Shark from attending this week’s 150th British Open celebrations.
The only Australian to win the Masters, Scott said he understood that Norman had upset a lot of people in the sport because of his association with the rebel LIV series.
But he said he disagreed with the Royal and Ancient golf club’s decision to exclude Norman from the biggest celebration in the game’s history, saying he should have been allowed to attend.
“I know that everyone’s bent out of shape about things going on But I tend to think, yes,” Scott said.
“It’s a never-ending discussion. I’m not even going to give various reasons for why I think that, but that’s my first instinct.”
Asked whether he agreed with Norman’s view that the R&A’s actions were petty, Scott was again in agreement: “I think that’s a fair comment. But I guess we’re dealing with something in golf that we’ve not dealt with before and everyone’s learning as we go.”
Scott’s not the only Australian who thinks Norman was harshly treated by the game’s stuffy custodians with Marc Leishman also going into bat for the Shark, saying the two-time champion should definitely have been invited because of the magnitude of the occasion and his contribution to the game.
Scott, Leishman and Cameron Smith – who Norman has tipped to end Australia’s 29-year British Open drought – played the back nine holes together on Wednesday before retreating to a nearby pub to watch the State of Origin.
Following them along the fairway was a surprise guest – tennis icon Ash Barty – who joined the three golfers for a selfie on the Swilcan Bridge, the famous stone arch on the 18th hole at the St Andrews Old Course.
The 150th British Open has attracted stars from all over the sports world to the famed Scottish links, elevating the tournament to a status beyond anything else the sport has seen, with a special dinner and four-hole exhibition tournament for all the living champions, except Norman.
“Winning any major is special,” Scott said.
“Then there are a couple that maybe have an asterisk next to them because they just carry a little bit more importance and significance and respect and all those things.
And this is it. I tend to agree with Rory (McIlroy) that this probably is the Holy Grail of golf.
“Whether you’re an Australian or Northern Irishman, or from Scotland, it might be the pinnacle of this sport, what’s happening here this week.
“For anybody winning, it’s hard to put anything up against it.”
Australians have won the men’s British Open nine times – more than the other three majors combined – but only twice at St Andrews, Peter Thomson in 1955 and Kel Nagle in 1960 – which happened to be the 100th edition of the world’s oldest golf tournament.
Norman was the last Aussie to get presented with the Claret Jug after his second win at Royal St George’s in 1993 and the 11 Aussies this year are all hoping to end the drought.
Scott has come close before with five top-10 finishes at the British Open and he says he’s feeling better than ever heading into this year’s tournament.
“I’ve really had a good lead up to it I think,” he said.
“I’ve done everything I want. I feel really comfortable with the golf course, and my game feels really good the last few days.
Petty Royal and Ancient join ugly Norman pile on
—Julian Linden
Greg Norman is dead right about one thing: the decision by the Royal and Ancient golf club to exclude him from attending the 150th British Open celebrations really does seem petty.
Whether you agree with Norman’s support for the Saudi-backed LIV golf series or not has almost become a moot point, because the move to ban him from this week’s festivities appears mean-spirited and about to backfire.
As a two-time winner of the oldest and most prestigious golf tournament in the world, Norman’s name will forever be linked with the British Open because he did as much as anyone to popularise the championship and the game of golf.
He competed in the British Open 27 times, winning the Claret Jug in 1986 and 1993 and finishing in the top 10 on 10 separate occasions.
A magnetic figure in his heyday, the Shark was for many years the single biggest drawcard in the game, and barring him from this week’s celebrations won’t change a thing.
The 150th championship at the Old Course at St Andrews in Scotland is meant to be a celebration of the game’s esteemed history, warts and all.
Instead, the celebrations have been overshadowed by the ill-conceived decision to blacklist the last Australian winner of the title because of his involvement with the rebel league taking on the establishment.
No matter how they try to justify the decision, the R&A’s actions look vindictive because the game’s custodians invited all the other former champions to be part of the celebrations – except for Norman.
For a game that prides itself on traditions and fair play, the ugly pile on taking now place against one of the game’s greatest players at the home of golf is unedifying,
At a time when officials desperately wanted to claim the high ground they hit out of bounds.
No-one thinks it’s a good idea to be taking truckloads of money from the Saudis but there’s more to this row than who’s footing the bill.
At the heart of the matter is how the PGA runs the game, which partly explains why the association is being investigated by the US Department of Justice over possible anti-competitive behaviour.
And although he’s been made the fall guy, Norman isn’t alone in wanting to shake up the game.
Dozens of the world’s best players have already signed for the breakaway league and more are sure to follow after what’s transpired this week.
Tiger claws Shark: Rebel Norman not ‘in best interests’ of golf
Tiger Woods is on the prowl again and this time he’s stalking the Shark.
Woods has been never afraid of calling out whatever he thinks is wrong with the game of golf after confronting racial prejudice headfirst when he was starting out and breaking barriers in the sport.
In a blistering attack on Norman and his Saudi-backed rebel LIV series, Woods started by saying he supported the decision by the Royal And Ancient golf club to ban Norman from this week’s historic celebrations even though he’s a two-time champion.
“Greg has done some things that I don’t think is in the best interest of our game,” Woods said.
“And we’re coming back to probably the most historic and traditional place in our sport. I believe it’s the right thing.
“I know what the PGA Tour stands for and what we have done and what the tour has given us, the ability to chase after our careers and to earn what we get and the trophies we have been able to play for and the history that has been a part of this game.
“I know Greg tried to do this back in the early ‘90s. It didn’t work then, and he’s trying to make it work now. I still don’t see how that’s in the best interests of the game.”
But Tiger didn’t stop there.
Pressed again about the issue that has divided the golf world and is threatening to overshadow the biggest celebration in the sport’s history, Woods went after Norman, mocking some of the more radical proposals that LIV says will make golf more entertaining, and saying that no amount of money in the world could match the thrill of chasing history.
“What these players are doing for guaranteed money, what is the incentive to practise? What is the incentive to go out there and earn it in the dirt? “ Woods said.
“You’re just getting paid a lot of money upfront and playing a few events and playing 54 holes. They’re playing blaring music and have all these atmospheres that are different.
“I can understand 54 holes is almost like a mandate when you get to the Senior Tour. The guys are a little bit older and a little more banged up.”
Woods said while older players might be happy to take the money after having long careers, it was the younger players starting out who would pay the price if the game’s traditions were abandoned.
“But when you’re at this young age and some of these kids — they really are kids who have gone from amateur golf into that organisation — 72-hole tests are part of it. We used to have 36-hole playoffs for major championships. That’s how it used to be — 18-hole U.S. Open playoffs.
SCROLL DOWN TO READ MCILROY’S COMMENTS ON NORMAN
“I just don’t see how that move is positive in the long term for a lot of these players, especially if the LIV organisation doesn’t get world-ranking points and the major championships change their criteria for entering the events.
“It would be sad to see some of these young kids never get a chance to experience it and experience what we’ve got a chance to experience and walk these hallowed grounds and play in these championships.”
Rory glad Norman banned
—Julian Linden
Rory McIlroy has launched another scathing attack on Greg Norman, backing the controversial decision to ban Australia’s last British Open champion from taking part in the tournament’s 150th celebrations.
Despite being a two-time winner of the world’s oldest and most prestigious golf tournament, Norman’s invitation to this week’s historic edition at St Andrews was withdrawn at the last minute because of his association with the Saudi-financed rebel LIV tour.
The R&A’s decision to block the former world No.1 from taking part in the exhibition tournament for ex-winners and the champions dinner has led to accusations the club is being petty and hypocritical.
Jack Nicklaus, golf’s greatest champion, said he disagreed with the Shark’s involvement in the Saudi-backed tour but said he’s still a huge figure in the game’s history.
“Greg Norman is an icon in the game of golf. He’s a great player,” Nicklaus said.
“We’ve been friends for a long time, and regardless of what happens, he’s going to remain a friend.
“Unfortunately, he and I just don’t see eye-to-eye in what’s going on.”
The decision to ban Norman comes at the same time the US PGA – which the R&A is strongly aligned with – is being investigated by the US Department of Justice over possible anti-competitive behaviour.
And leading players who have signed up for the lucrative LIV series, including Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Louis Oosthuizen, Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau, have also been allowed to take part in the British Open.
One of the most vocal supporters for the establishment, McIlroy says it was still the right call to boot Norman out of the celebrations.
“It’s the 150th Open championship and that’s what we need to focus on. I think the focus would have been taken away a little bit if he’d have been here,” the Northern Irishman said.
“I supported that decision … I think it was the right decision to be made.
“But if things change in the future, or whatever happens, who knows, but I could see a day where he’s certainly welcome back.”
The PGA has banned players who have signed for the rebel series from competing on the regular tour, but that does not apply to the majors, which is why so many LIV signed players will be teeing it up at the Old Course this week.
“Selfishly, for me, I think it would be better for the game,” McIlroy said.
“But at the end of the day, everyone that’s here has the same opportunity to go out there and try to win a Claret Jug, regardless of what tour they play on or whatever that is.
“Whoever wins here at the end of the week should be commended for one of the greatest achievements this game has to offer.
“I’m not going to begrudge anyone if they win the Claret Jug and they play on a different Tour than I play. That’s still a wonderful achievement, and they’re still playing the same sport. But I selfishly want that person to be me.”
Originally published as The Open Championship news: All the latest on the British open and Greg Norman Saudi controversy
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