Mark SchlabachESPN Senior Writer12:51 PM ET5 Minute Read
AUGUSTA, Georgia – Augusta National Golf Club Chairman Fred Ridley confirmed that Greg Norman, CEO and commissioner of LIV Golf, has not been invited to attend the 87th Masters this week.
Ridley said the decision was made to ensure that this week’s attention is focused on the tournament and the players and not the ongoing rift between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour.
“We didn’t invite Mr. Norman,” Ridley said during a news conference on Wednesday. “The main issue and the drive there is I want the focus this week to be on the Masters competition, on the great players that are competing, the greatest players in the world, which by our decision in December we would have ensured ours Honor and conform to invitation criteria.”
Ridley said Norman, a former world no.
Norman called Augusta National’s decision not to invite him “petty” in an interview with The Telegraph of London earlier this week. PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan and DP World Tour CEO Keith Pelley attend the Masters.
“Funnily enough, I wasn’t invited,” Norman said. “I’ve always been a big winner, but they just sent me a pitch pass last year and nothing at all this time. I’m disappointed because it’s so petty, but of course I’ll watch anyway.”
LIV Golf and a handful of its players filed a state antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour last year, accusing it of using its monopoly power to stifle competition and colluding with the majors and golf associations. An investigation by the US Department of Justice got Augusta National in trouble.
Norman suggested to the media in his native Australia that he would never be invited to the Masters again. Ridley wasn’t ready to go that far.
“It’s hard to answer that question because I don’t know where the world is going to be in the next year or two,” Ridley said. “But like I said, I would never say never. But I told you why he wasn’t invited this year.”
18 LIV golfers are taking part in the Masters this week, including former champions Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed, Bubba Watson, Phil Mickelson, Charl Schwarzel and Sergio Garcia.
Ridley said tensions between some PGA Tour members and LIV Golf players appear to have eased this week as players from both sides appear to be focused on the first major championship of the season.
“The tone has been really good here this week,” said Ridley. “I noticed that the players interact. Last night at the Champions Dinner, I would not have known that there was something different going on in the world of professional golf than the norm. So I think, and I’m confident, that this week might push people to think in a slightly different direction and things will change.”
Augusta National Golf Club Chairman Fred Ridley wishes to limit the focus to the ongoing saga between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour that led to the decision not to invite LIV CEO and Commissioner Greg Norman to this week’s Masters.Ross invite Kinnaird/Getty Images
The Augusta National Golf Club has announced some changes in qualifiers for the 2024 tournament, including an exception for the current NCAA Division I men’s singles champion. Vanderbilt’s Gordon Sargent, the reigning NCAA champion, is playing by special invitation this week. He is the first amateur to receive a special invitation since Australia’s Aaron Baddeley in 2000.
“As for the NCAA champion, like I said, it’s a big amateur championship and I thought it was about time we recognized that,” Ridley said. “And we couldn’t be happier to have Gordon here this week. He’s a good young man and a damn good player. We are codifying that now for the future.”
Two other qualifying changes for 2024 are related to the PGA Tour. They essentially ensure that full-scoring fall tournament winners earn a seat in the Masters and that players competing in the season-ending Tour championship must also be eligible under PGA Tour rules to qualify for the masters to qualify.
Talor Gooch qualified for the Tour Championship last year but was not allowed to compete because Monahan suspended him for attending LIV golf events without disclosing a conflicting event. Otherwise, Gooch would have qualified for the Masters because he was in the top 50 of the official golf world rankings at the end of last year.
“We look at our qualifications every year but there are changes,” said Ridley. “Things are evolving and we need to make sure we’re flexible in that regard. So I’m sure there will be changes in the future, but none beyond what I announced this morning.”
Ridley also commented on the club’s position on a proposed United States Golf Association and R&A rule that would allow tours and tournaments to require elite men’s players to use a golf ball with a shot limit, reducing distances about 14 to 15 yards on average for the longest clubs with the fastest clubhead speeds.
The new rules, which would not affect recreational players, would come into effect in January 2026 if adopted. The governing bodies will receive feedback by August 14th.
“I think in general we support the proposal, but as it’s in the middle of a comment period it could change,” Ridley said. “The entire purpose of the comment period is to gather input from the industry. So we’re going to look at the final product and make a decision. But in general we have always supported the governing bodies. I explained that we believe in distance needs to be addressed. I think the natural conclusion is, yes, we will support.”
Ridley noted that when he competed in the 1976-78 Masters, the length of the Augusta National Course was approximately 6,900 yards. It will play for 7,545 yards this week.
“When Tiger Woods first won the tournament in 1997, it was about that distance [6,900 yards]’ Ridley said. “It wasn’t until a few years later that the gap widened: I think once, maybe a year after that, in 1998, and then especially and significantly in 2002. I think what’s happened since then, those changes seem very significant, and they were so did they back then, but over the years the players have gotten stronger. Your swings have become more efficient. The facilities have gotten better. And so it didn’t take long, if at all, to make up for those changes.”