News about Greg Norman

LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman will have to splash out for his own ticket if he intends to attend The Open this year after being brutally snubbed by tournament organizers.  The Australian lifted the Claret Jug twice during his playing days - marking his two major wins - but since spearheading the Saudi-funded breakaway that has torn the golfing world in two, he's found himself on the fringes.  And the 69-year-old's golfing exile appears to have continued ahead of this year's major at Royal Troon. 

Greg Norman insists LIV Golf never made an offer to Rory McIlroy but that the Saudi-backed breakaway would be happy to 'have a conversation' with the world No 2 about defecting from the PGA Tour. McIlroy was recently linked with a sensational $850million U-Turn, with reports claiming he was close to following Jon Rahm to LIV. The Northern Irishman, who has been one of the breakaway's most vocal critics, shot down the speculation and confirmed he would play on the PGA Tour for the rest of his career. 'My future is here,' he said.

Becks (left), 48, is suing the actor (right) and his business associates after the partnership with F45, which saw the midfielder promote his own range of personalised workouts (inset), went south in a row over shares he was allegedly promised as part of the arrangement. The case has rumbled on for several years after Beckham and golfing legend Greg Norman filed cases against F45 in Californian courts in October 2022 - before a judge reportedly ruled they had to file separate lawsuits. Beckham's firm, David Beckham Ventures Ltd (DBVL) had earlier sought damages of as much as $18.85million (£15.2million) from F45, according to filings made last year.

Masters champion Fred Couples took a shot at LIV Golf commissioner Greg Norman after he reportedly bought his own ticket to attend the tournament at Augusta National. LIV Golf had 13 players in the field - including Bryson DeChambeau, who had the sole lead through 18 holes and shared the lead through 36. Couples laughed at the commissioner through social media, wondering how he could have over a dozen players in the field but none could get 'The Shark' in.

There is a great stigma attached to the idea of 'choking' in sport.  It is used as an insult, an accusation of weakness that implies lack of character and absence of moral fibre. Academic papers, a whole raft of them, have been written about it. Maybe one day, they will write one about Arsenal and the end to the 2023-24 season. But have Arsenal's credentials in this delicate matter really been fully established yet? I don't think so.

MIKE KEEGAN AT AUGUSTA NATIONAL: Ludvig Aberg's final round preparations did not get off to the best start thanks to his beloved Liverpool. The famously-focussed Swede is a huge fan of Jurgen Klopp's side and his caddie joked that the only thing that might put him off his game was news of the shock 1-0 defeat to Crystal Palace at Anfield.

A series of Australian golf fans were stunned after Greg Norman's son confirmed on social media the controversial LIV CEO (pictured right) was forced to pay his own way into the Masters (left) this week. A defiant Norman purchased a ticket for Augusta on the secondary market after he was 'denied one directly' after going through the proper professional channels.

Greg Norman's son has confirmed the LIV boss paid for his ticket to The Masters after being spotted at Augusta National Thursday - following his ban from the legendary golf course last year. Norman, whose breakaway LIV has often clashed with the PGA Tour, was denied a ticket after 'going through the proper professional channels,' according to Greg Norman Jr.,' so he took matters into his own hands and bought one on the 'secondary market.'  Responding to a skeptical fan, Norman Jr. said, 'Without a doubt, an invitation was not extended to my dad, and in fact, when he tried to buy one directly from them, he was denied. Hence, he had to buy on the secondary market.

LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman was seen back on the grounds of the Augusta National Golf Club for the first time in a year. Norman was banned from the course last year after a dispute between him and the course as LIV was taking part in its second season. This year, Norman was back at the course where he came the closest to winning a third major.

There was at one point last summer a hope that by the time the game's best players were arriving down Magnolia Lane once again that the great divide would have healed itself. Fast forward nine months and LIV Golf's rebels are clashing with their PGA Tour counterparts once again with tensions just as high - and this time, they come with even more of a threat. Talks between the PGA Tour and the PIF continue around a merger, but it's the Saudi-backed circuit who have proved themselves to be the ultimate poker player. Greg Norman's band of merry men will rock up to Augusta for the second year since tearing the golfing world in two. Except this year, they won't be scoffed at. This time they come with a spring in their step.

WINTERS AT TRUMP WINTERS NATIONAL: Jon Rahm has confirmed that if one of the 13 LIV players competing in the Masters emerges victorious at Augusta National, it would be a 'great tale.' The reigning Masters champion will play in his first major championship since his expulsion from the PGA Tour last year when he signed a $500 million deal with the Saudi-backed breakaway circuit. Greg Norman made it clear 12 months ago that if one of his players managed to win golf's most coveted tournament, there will be wild celebrations on Augusta's 18th green.

WINTERS AT TRUMP NATIONAL DORAL: Greg Norman made it clear 12 months ago that the sight of a LIV golfer winning the Masters would lead to wild celebrations on Augusta National's 18th green. In his head, the public face of the breakaway circuit knew that a winner on golf's grandest stage would give the tour a sense of legitimacy that it had so far lacked. Brooks Koepka, Phil Mickelson, and Patrick Reed all threatened to make an uncomfortable situation for Masters' coordinators, but none of them could keep up with Jon Rahm.

EXCLUSIVE: Tiger Woods landed one of the sport's most unique sponsorship agreements when he began a 27-year, $500 million contract with Nike, according to his former agent Hughes Norton. The 15-time major winner began wearing the Swoosh when he was just 20 years old, with the brand delivering the golf legend's iconic Sunday red looks and regal advertisements to his stunned fans. It was Norton, the super agent who defended Woods alongside a host of the game's top names, including Greg Norman, who was the architect of the most famous golf friendship ever. Norman's latest tell-all book,'Rainmaker: Superagent Hughes Norton and the Money-Grab Explosion of Golf From Tiger to LIV and Beyond,' co-written with former Golf magazine editor George Peper, unveils the actual details of the transaction.

BY ISABEL BALDWIN, EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Hughes Norton was the man behind Tiger Woods' meteoric rise. He was the first to meet 5-foot-5, 100-pound Woods when he was 13 years old. When Woods won the Masters at 21 in 1997, he was his agent. He orchestrated his multi-million-dollar contracts with Nike and Titleist before he even swung a club as a professional. And his reward? Unemployment is the result of a lack of jobs. Before Greg Norman was a major winner of the golf world, he was the golf world's best agent, representing them both. But the discovery of the game's greatest of all time was his greatest triumph throughout his two-and-a-kind partnership. A huge success that was also took away from him as quickly as he was ripped away from him. Norton talked to Mail Sport ahead of the unveiling of his tell-all book Rainmaker, which will be available in the United States on March 26, detailing his meteoric rise and sudden fall.

In a move that might lead to further concerns regarding the breakaway circuit's potential to compete as a pathway to major championships, LIV Golf has dropped its long-running application to gain world ranking points. Greg Norman's tour has lobbied for official recognition from the Official World Golf Ranking since July 2022, but after being turned down last October, the LIV chief has now called time on those attempts in exasperation at a body that is quickly losing its'relevance.' Norman wrote to players on Tuesday, "having refused to acknowledge your contributions over the past few seasons, the OWGR is not and cannot be a "official" ranking.

Rahm, 29, sent shockwaves across golfing when he inked his opulent, multi-million dollar contract to leave the PGA Tour and join Greg Norman's rebel circuit in December. The capture of the reigning Masters champion by LIV marked a major victory for the breakaway, but McIlroy, one of the tournament's most outspoken defenders, has surprisingly softened his position both publicly and privately after his Ryder Cup teammate's departure. However, Rahm opened up about Woods' very different reactions.

ISABEL BALDWIN AT MAYAKOBA, MEXICO: Rahm appeared to immediately respect his price tag as he began his competitive career just two rounds in, when he entered his first LIV championship on Sunday in a grouping that might have seen Greg Norman licking his lips. Joaquin Niemann, the overnight king, had been charged with a two-shot penalty closing the gap between him and Rahm from four to two shots and teeing up LIV's $500 man to be on the hunt. It was a breakaway from the Sunday storyline that eventually made for riveting viewing, particularly considering the absence of opposition from the PGA Tour following the postponement of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. And although LIV still had a show, it was Sergio Garcia and Niemann who starred, rather than a Rahm fairytale ending to the 2024 curtain raiser.

ISABEL BALDWIN AT MAYAKOBA, MEXICO: Tyrrell Hatton said his LIV Golf debut had the feeling of the first day of school, but that finding his feet would take a little while. The 32-year-old defected to the breakaway at the death just days before his 2024 season opener in El Camaleon, Mexico, and it appears he's going to take a lot longer than that for the offseason signee to adjust. He had previously expressed reservations about a defection due to his commitment to the Ryder Cup and the majors, but eventually gave in after a reported $64 million bid was rejected. For the first time this weekend, he followed Legion XIII captain Jon Rahm into battle. However, although the Spaniard immediately repaid LIV's multi-million dollar bid, Hatton would have been left wondering if his big bet was all worthwhile.

As Jon Rahm's new expansion team takes shape ahead of the rebel tour's season opener in Mexico, LIV Golf has announced the signing of Englishman Tyrrell Hatton. Hatton, the Ryder Cup winner who has defected to Saudi-backed venture in a $64 million contract, is a member of Legion XIII alongside Caleb Surratt and Zimbabwe's Kieran Vincent. Rahm will lead the new team, which starts at LIV Golf Mayakoba in Playa del Carmen on Friday.

Today may have been a game-day for golfers around the world. We're here, six months and 206 days after the tumultuous merger deal between the PGA Tour and Saudi-backed LIV was announced on June 6, no agreement was reached, civil war is ongoing, and there seems to be no end in sight. Negotiations between the tours have now been postponed to the Masters in April, but nothing has changed since the announcement of the merger broke, but LIV's presence has grown, to put it politely. Jon Rahm has earned the money and ran, prompting LIV's top critic, Rory McIlroy, to request that rules be rewritten to allow him to compete in future Ryder Cups, when Viktor Hovland slammed the former PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, who said his team treats players "as labor, not part of the members."

The two-time major winner, 29, officially hopped ship from the PGA Tour to the Saudi-backed rebel circuit last week, and will cap his team from the 2024 season. The move was a major blow for LIV, since the Spaniard had previously pledged his 'fealty' to the PGA Tour, a claim that Norman said is also validating for other players. Multiple players were vying to be part of Rahm's roster, including hinting that one of the three positions up for grabs had already been filled.

RIATH AL-SAMARRAI: You don't always get what you want, as Rory McIlroy has discovered in his death-wishes for the LIV circuit. But it's also unknown if he'll have any joy in obtaining what he needs, which is the protection of Jon Rahm as a Ryder Cup teammate. Rahm's defection to Greg Norman's circuit has resulted in another bomb blast in golf. It is doubtless a big coup for LIV to land the reigning Masters champion, a bigger blow for the jilted PGA Tour, and above all, another nine iron in the teeth for those that like to see the best compete in those weeks between majors.

According to various outlets, Jon Rahm has officially jumped ship from the PGA Tour to LIV Golf, with an announcement that the signing will take place in the next few hours. Over the past few weeks, rumors have risen that the two-time major winner will defect to Greg Norman's circuit, and leaving is now a done deal. The World No. 2 is the world's No. 1. According to The Telegraph, 3 has closed a deal worth upwards of $570 million (£450 million), which is a major blow for the Saudi-backed breakaway from the PGA Tour's seemingly volatile truce.

In rumors that Rahm, the reigning Masters champion, is reportedly the new target as it continues aggressively poaching the world's top golfers. With the breakaway's players becoming more confident that they will land him, the Spaniard is said to have been offered a multi-million dollar contract to defect to LIV Golf. However, although LIV's rebels are steadfast, Woods said he would be surprised if the World No. No. ranked sodoms. Three players have left the PGA Tour.