Greg Norman returns to the British Open Championship

Greg Norman, CEO of LIV Golf, is on site at Royal Troon after being invited by the R&A to the 152nd British Open Championship.

In April, Greg Norman made headlines when he bought a ticket for The Masters at Augusta National after the tournament denied him a professional ticket when he applied through official channels. The R&A had previously barred Norman from the Champions Dinner at the 150th Open at St Andrews in 2022 after he launched LIV Golf just a month earlier.

Norman was spotted wearing an R&A guest badge during the third round of the 152nd British Open Championship at Royal Troon on Saturday, confirming that the organisation had made good on its recent promise to grant him the same privileges as all previous Open champions.

Norman seemed excited to be back at The Open when he spoke to Golf Digest on Saturday afternoon.

“The Open has a lot of history for me. For me, it was the best championship of all. The Masters is the Masters, but I put it above all four because it’s a true open. I love how they rotate the host course and the links golf. In my professional career, I was proud to come back and play the Open Championship.”

Norman explained that it feels like the divide between the PGA and LIV Golf is starting to calm down after several LIV Golf players were granted exemptions to the PGA Championship earlier this year and 18 players competed in the British Open Championship.

“I think there was a lot of misinterpretation of the situation in the beginning. I’m excited to see how things have stabilized now. Everyone has seen that LIV Golf has been accepted within the ecosystem and that the players deserve to be in these major championships.”

Only time will tell where the ongoing talks between the PGA and PIF will lead regarding a joint venture between the two organizations, but Tiger Woods seemed encouraged when he spoke to the media earlier this week ahead of his opening round at Royal Troon. When asked if he was happy with the way the negotiations were going, he replied: “Yes, I am.”

Norman also commented on the course that hosted the 152nd Open Championship. “Troon is a tough course,” he said. “Yesterday, the wind was blowing really hard on the first few holes, around 1 or 2 p.m. And then when you turn the corner, you’ve got all that wind pushing the ball towards the railroad tracks around Nos. 10 and 11. Those holes are made even tougher because you never really play the course straight into the wind or straight downwind. It’s always testing your trajectory and how you spin the ball. It’s a quirky course and you’ve got to put it in the right place.”

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Sarah Pyett – Deputy Digital Editor

Sarah Pyett is the Deputy Digital Editor of todays-golfer.com. She plays to a 4 handicap and specializes in women’s equipment reviews including drivers, irons and golf balls.

After a career in a professional golf shop and gaining a qualification in golf club management, Sarah joined Bauer in 2014 as a web producer for Today’s Golfer. Since then she has worked across multiple brands in a mix of digital marketing and paid media roles, before returning to focus on golf full-time in 2024 as Deputy Digital Editor.

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