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Augusta, Georgia: Greg Norman won\u2019t attend the Masters after being overlooked again by Augusta National for a guest invitation that\u2019s customarily given to past major winners.<\/p>\n
The Australian legend was not invited in 2023 and 2024 as officials attempted to keep the focus on the major during a divisive period in professional golf caused by the Norman-influenced LIV Golf rebel competition.<\/p>\n
![\"Greg](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/715d2eb78bfc9e9fd0ea56424d1833ff59c232a4.jpeg\")
Greg Norman drops to his knees after missing the hole with a chip shot during his fateful final round at Augusta National in 1996.Stephen Munday\/Allsport<\/p>\n
This year, Norman will be overseas for meetings relating to growing his golf course design empire. The winner of two British Opens said he would not even watch this year\u2019s Masters TV broadcast \u2013 although he will follow the scores \u2013 on the 30-year anniversary of his 1996 heartbreak at Augusta National.<\/p>\n
On a Sunday that went down in Masters history, Norman led by six going into the final round, only to finish second as England great Nick Faldo took the green jacket.<\/p>\n
Three decades later, Norman, now 71, has a renewed focus on his Greg Norman Golf Course Design firm after departing LIV Golf in September, where he served as chief executive and commissioner for four years. Norman is also on the organising committee for the 2032 Olympics in Brisbane.<\/p>\n
But the unmistakable presence of \u201cThe Shark\u201d won\u2019t be visible at Augusta National this week after telling this masthead he had not received a guest invitation. Norman was runner-up at the 1986, 1987, and 1996 Masters.<\/p>\n
![\"Greg](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/48971296482daa0906dd612772bb11ef8a4acf63.jpeg\")
Greg Norman, left, with Nick Faldo, his conqueror at the Masters in 1996 by five strokes.AP<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, I won\u2019t be there, that\u2019s for sure; I never received the normal invitation from the Masters,\u201d Norman said via a phone call. \u201cI won\u2019t even watch it [because] I will be out of the country, to be honest with you. But I will follow the results day by day to see who\u2019s leading, what\u2019s happening.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt just seems like I\u2019ve moved on from that, too, which is a crying shame because [the] Masters and Augusta and a number of friends I have in Augusta National, the powers to be decided to go in a different direction. So, I have to accept that.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 2023, Norman, then CEO of LIV, was not invited to be a guest at Augusta National. Club chairman Fred Ridley said that year the club wanted \u201cthe focus this week to be on the Masters competition.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ridley also said Norman had attended the tournament just twice in the previous 10 years. A year later, Norman purchased a ticket on the secondary market and attended several days of the 2024 Masters.<\/p>\n
![\"Australian](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/67516400f37ac30d65125c9637f05c2430022083.jpeg\")
Australian golfing great Greg Norman at the Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix earlier this year.Eddie Jim<\/p>\n
None of the fans at Augusta National in 2024 seemed to care about the schism in golf between LIV and the PGA Tour. Fans on the grounds swarmed the Australian as though he were still in his swashbuckling days of being a regular Masters contender.<\/p>\n
\u201cGetting out to the venue was something that I really, really enjoyed when I bought my own ticket a couple of years ago to go there,\u201d Norman said.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo feel it and walk around with the patrons was wonderful. I\u2019ll never forget that couple of days, to be honest with you. Because the support I had, even in the heat of everything with LIV and the PGA Tour. The overall sentiment was just overwhelmingly positive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now in its fifth year, LIV Golf has established some legitimacy within the golf ecosystem.<\/p>\n
![\"Rory](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/a0ffc006724645525c53a3bd82984fed211bf071.jpeg\")
Rory McIlroy during a practice round at Augusta National this week.Getty Images<\/p>\n
The league receives world rankings points for the top 10 finishers at its events, which are now 72 holes, as well as an exemption into the US and British Opens for its top points earner.<\/p>\n
Norman, though, departed LIV last year after getting the league off the ground in 2022 and signing major champions such as Cameron Smith, Bryson DeChambeau, and Dustin Johnson.<\/p>\n
Even Rory McIlroy, with whom Norman had traded public barbs, praised him for his role in the upstart league. \u201cHe is probably one of the only guys in golf who could have taken on that role; he got it off the ground, and you have to commend him for that,\u201d McIlroy said in 2025.<\/p>\n
Norman remains proud of his contribution to LIV as an administrator, and the competitive changes it triggered on the PGA Tour.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The enormous purses for LIV\u2019s 14 events and its big-name fields prompted the PGA Tour to create a series of $US20 million tournaments called \u201cSignature Events.\u201d The US circuit also partnered with Strategic Sports Group (SSG) to create PGA Tour Enterprises, where nearly 200 PGA Tour members were given the opportunity to become equity holders.<\/p>\n
Fans could have hit the tension between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf with a 3-iron, although the four major championships remained neutral ground. Norman said that wasn\u2019t LIV\u2019s intention.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe weren\u2019t trying to destroy the PGA Tour. We never were aimed at doing that. Never, ever,\u201d Norman said.<\/p>\n
![\"Adam](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/69a7e06a3dff484884f8bf81ffc165391472eeb9.jpeg\")
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