LIV Golf boss Greg Norman might not be going to the Masters, but he’ll beam with pride if one of his rebel league recruits won the Green Jacket.
Speaking to the Telegraph, Norman appeared infatuated with the scene of the 18-strong LIV Golf group celebrating a famous victory by one of their own this week.
The Saudi-financed league boasts six former champions on its roster, and it isn’t out of the question if the likes of Dustin Johnson and Cameron Smith were in contention on Sunday evening.
Norman famously never won the Masters despite coming second in 1986, 1987, and 1996. But his past heartache could be softened if a LIV player tasted victory in Georgia.
“You could say I came within touching distance on a few occasions and I suppose it stands out as the big absence on my CV,” Norman said. “That’s part of why it would mean so much to see one of our LIV family in the Butler Cabin.
“I would be the happiest man in the world, the first to ring and congratulate and pay for what would be an incredible party.
“But it’s not about me it’s about the players and I’m telling you they’re not going there as individuals, but as a team, backing each other, supporting and rooting for each other. I think that gives these great players an even greater chance next Sunday.
“They’ve said that if one of them wins then the other 17 will hang around and be there to congratulate him around the 18th green.
“Could you imagine what a scene that would be, all these players hugging the winner? You only see things like that in the Ryder Cup, although it’s happening in our events more and more.”
“Fair enough it would be huge for LIV, but I think it would be bigger for the game of golf. Just think if down the stretch it was Rory McIlroy against DJ (Dustin Johnson). It’d be off the charts and Augusta now knows that.”
This precise prospect of cross-tour competition is exactly why the 2023 Masters is so highly anticipated. Brooks Koepka also alluded to battling the PGA Tour’s best after winning the LIV Golf Orlando invitational.
Norman expressed relief that the Masters, and the major organisations in general, haven’t sanctioned LIV players in a similar fashion to the PGA Tour.
The majors have been fairly clear on the matter: if you meet eligibility criteria, you can play.
But the two-time major champion isn’t completely satisfied with Augusta’s treatment of his players ahead of the first men’s major of the year.
Cameron Smith is the only LIV player on press conference duty before the first round starts, reportedly because the Open champion was the only one invited.
Norman has continued to wage the war of words with Rory McIlroy too, citing a lack of consistency in the PGA Tour devising a new schedule of no-cut events in 2024, one thing the LIV format has been scrutinised for adopting.
“How can our players not be extra motivated, even though it’s the Masters and regardless of what Gary Player says, is probably the biggest event in the game,” he added.
“There’s been insults recently that LIV is not ‘real golf’ and I get truly miffed by that hypocrisy. Rory McIlroy implied we were opening some kind of circus and that LIV is an ‘exhibition’.
“And yet, on his and Tiger Woods’s advice the PGA Tour goes ahead and does the same thing in doing their limited field events with more money, etc. Where’s the consistency right?
“It’s setting up to be a real goody of a Masters. And LIV has a lot to do with that, no matter what anyone says.
“We do things differently and we are new and fresh and innovative and it might be like two worlds colliding. But it’s still golf. They won’t say it, but Augusta knows they are the huge beneficiaries in all of this.”
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