Greg Norman disinvited to 150th Open Champions dinner

The R&A have issued a statement confirming they have told LIV Golf frontman and two-time Open Champion Greg Norman is not welcome at the 150th Open Champions dinner celebration this week.

Worried that he may use the occasion to champion the new Saudi-backed LIV Golf Tour, the R&A confirmed they disinvited Norman to the event.

“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.”

Norman told Australian Golf Digest that he thought the decision was petty.

“I’m disappointed. I would have thought the R&A would have stayed above it all given their position in world golf. (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.”

It should also be noted (and remembered) that Norman’s request for a special permission to play in the 150th event was denied earlier in the year, perhaps for fear of The Shark taking the focus off the milestone tournament.

Norman’s automatic exemption as a past champion expired seven years ago when he turned 60.

Eamon Lynch lays it out in his most recent acerbic piece on the latest controversy.

Had he genuinely wished to compete, Norman could have followed the example of Sandy Lyle, the 64-year-old champion from 1985, who entered qualifying this year. Lyle didn’t make it but he tried the only route available. He didn’t demand an exemption to which he wasn’t entitled, but then Lyle isn’t known to have a larger-than-life bust of himself in his garden either.