19th Hole
‘Petty, cheap, childish shot’ – Greg Norman slams R&A over Open Celebration of Champions snub
Earlier this year, the R&A decided not to permit special exemption to Greg Norman, that would have allowed him to take part at the 150th Open at St. Andrews.
Whilst the LIV CEO maintained he was “disappointed with their decision, particularly given it is the 150th Open,” and that he had “been a staunch proponent of the R&A since 1977 and a proud Champion Golfer of the Year–twice,” the committee were insistent they were not altering any exemption rules.
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Then, a few days before the historic major, the R&A informed Norman he was not welcome at the Celebration of Champions, insisting the event was to focus on, “celebrating the Championship and its heritage. Unfortunately, we do not believe that would be the case if Greg were to attend.”
Now, in October, that episode is still rankling with the two-time winner of the Claret Jug.
Norman appeared on Piers Morgan Uncensored recently to discuss much about the split in golf, and how the status quo have treated him since LIV started getting momentum and huge media coverage, and he still regards the actions of the R&A as a “petty, cheap, childish shot.”
Norman believes he has the good of golf at heart, and his record proves it:
“I’ll be honest with you, at times, my heat shield gets a little bit weak because I am a human being. I’ve done a lot for the game of golf. I was number one player in the world for six years. I’ve done things in the game of golf, I promoted the game of golf, I’ve grown the game of golf globally.”
He continued, “I took a mission on myself as an individual player to fly all around the world. I was the first guy to do an exhibition match in mainland China. I was one of the first guys to go into the Middle East and, through my golf and business at the same time, I continue to do that. So, when they do these… What happened in the R&A was a petty, cheap, childish shot, to be honest with you. If you can’t rise above it all then shame on you.”
That was one of the many topics openly discussed, and as the title of the programme suggests, there were no holds barred.
About the PGA Tour’s attitude to LIV, Norman insisted there was much duplicity surrounding the opposition:
"The hypocrisy coming out of this is so deafening it's ridiculous. We're challenging the monopolist."
Don't miss Greg Norman discussing criticism from the PGA Tour and more on tonight's PMU.@SharkGregNorman | @piersmorgan | @TalkTV pic.twitter.com/dW2frCuyuy
— Piers Morgan Uncensored (@PiersUncensored) September 26, 2022
Norman expanded, “For you not to sit down and have a discussion and to understand what the LIV business model is and to see how it sits within the ecosystem, shame on you. In business, remember we’re a commercial entity, in business, you understand what your opponent’s got, you understand what your competitor’s got, unpack it all to see if you can actually work together within the system to make both entities better for each other, not try and destroy us. We haven’t tried to destroy the PGA Tour.”
Norman insists that he has lost friends over his involvement with the Saudi backed tour – “If they want to judge me on lack of information, they’re the ones with the small mind,” and asks one of LIV’s most fervent opponents, Rory McIlroy not to “begrudge other players.”
The full interview can be viewed on PMU’s YouTube channel,.
More from the 19th Hole
- Ian Poulter accused of lacking ‘manners and common decency’ after post-round Wentworth incident
- Bryson DeChambeau thanks Tiger for creating LIV Golf
- Pat Perez’s wife throws shade on Cantlay, Schauffele’s Napa trip with since-deleted comment
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19th Hole
Brandel Chamblee has a surprising new take on the PGA Tour-LIV stand-off
One of the more outspoken analysts throughout the LIV Golf vs. PGA Tour saga has been Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee.
This week, Chamblee reversed course, saying he believes the PGA Tour should strike a deal with Saudi Arabia’s Private Investment Fund (PIF).
Golf Channel Brandel Chamblee in his biggest about-face since the Framework Agreement on June 6, now says that making a deal with the PIF "is the better end of the bargain."
He says:
"The PGA Tour is in this pickle like it or not, but, do you want to compete with someone (LIV… pic.twitter.com/XDZaC1I6B8
— JCAGOLFReport (@JCAGOLFReport) May 10, 2024
“The PGA Tour is in this pickle like it or not, but, do you want to compete with someone who’s not going to go away, who can outspend you”.
“Every move they make that makes their tour better deletes your tour and causes more division within the tour. So the time is now, to Rory’s point about making a deal, I wouldn’t have said that a year ago… but it is the better end of the bargain.”
Chamblee’s new stance seems to be in line with that of Rory McIlroy, who reportedly wanted to rejoin the PGA Tour board with hopes of pushing a deal with the PIF closer to the finish line.
Chamblee will be in the booth for next week’s PGA Championship which has 16 LIV players in the field.
More from the 19th Hole
- Phil Mickelson drops big retirement hint; Says LIV will grow the game “on a much more global basis”
- 2-time major champ announces shock retirement from the sport at age of 33
- Tiger explains why golf has “negative connotations” for daughter Sam
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19th Hole
Xander Schauffele explains free drop ruling during round one of Wells Fargo Championship
During Thursday’s opening round of the Wells Fargo Championship, Xander Schauffele blasted his tee shot in the woods to the right of the fairway on the par-4 8th hole.
The ball was almost not found, but Xander’s group managed to track it down just before the three-minute time limit was reached.
When the ball was found, it was just beyond the penalty area close to a fence. In the moment, it seemed incredibly unlikely that Schauffele would be able to hit the ball through the trees towards the green.
However, through the woods and above the fairway, there was a hanging wire from a ShotLink tower that Xander claimed was in his way. He was then granted relief, and two club lengths from the spot positioned him all the way out of trouble. He played his ball onto the front of the green and two-putted for par.
Here is the full video of the interaction between Schauffele and the rules official.
??? #WATCH — The full video of the Xander Schauffele #DropGate situation ?
— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) May 9, 2024
After the round, Xander said he “got really lucky.”
“Got really lucky multiple times, on 1 with Wyndham finding it, 2, being able to move the rocks, and 3, the ShotLink tower being in like my only shot line possible. To walk out there with sort of a no breeze 4 with what I thought was almost out was a really good break.”
“Yeah, I hit it in the trees. My ball was probably like a foot, two feet from the fence. If I — ball was here, fence was kind of here, hitting back this direction.
“If I went towards the green, the fence kind of worked this way so I had what I could hit, a 4-iron or something low and just kind of run it through. If it gets stuck, I’ll just kind of hit my next one out. But I brought the rules official in there with me because I was like, you’ve got to be OK with this because this is literally the only shot I can hit.”
“So Austin [Kaiser] and I moved two massive rocks that weren’t embedded and then I got relief out of the junk and then hit a pretty good shot on the green from there. What was a very stressful moment turned into a pretty stressless par.”
Schauffele finished the round at seven under, which gives him a three-shot lead going into Friday’s second round.
More from the 19th Hole
- Phil Mickelson drops big retirement hint; Says LIV will grow the game “on a much more global basis”
- 2-time major champ announces shock retirement from the sport at age of 33
- Tiger explains why golf has “negative connotations” for daughter Sam
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19th Hole
Report: Tiger Woods voted against Rory McIlroy returning to policy board; Will be the only player negotiating directly with Saudis
According to a report from The Telegraph, the relationship between Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy has soured.
Last week, reports surfaced that McIlroy, who was a member of the PGA Tour policy board during most of the past few years, was looking to rejoin the board, presumably taking Webb Simpson’s seat.
However, on Wednesday, McIlroy revealed that he will not be rejoining the policy board, due to people on the board being “uncomfortable” with that “for some reason.”
Here's Rory McIlroy talking about the PGA Tour policy board and the "subset of people on the board that were maybe uncomfortable with me coming back on for some reason." pic.twitter.com/0skNOwtWxz
— Patrick McDonald (@pmcdonaldCBS) May 8, 2024
The Telegraph has reported that Tiger Woods was among the players who voted against McIlroy returning to the policy board.
The divide is apparently due to McIlroy pushing for the game of golf to unify, whereas Woods, reportedly, believes the PGA Tour is in a fine position where it currently stands.
The Associated Press added another wrinkle to the situation, reporting that Woods is the only player who will be negotiating directly with the Saudis.
The other members of the committee are PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, board chairman Joe Gorder, John W. Henry of Fenway Sports Group, and Joe Ogilvie, who was a former PGA Tour player.
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