“I’m not going to say anything about you know what,” Faldo told the Australian Associated Press under the Big Oak Tree outside Augusta National’s clubhouse.
Faldo, instead, decided to wait until after Rory McIlroy’s victory to release a statement “out of respect to the Masters and the tournament”.
Norman had taken aim at Faldo earlier in the week in an interview with The Telegraph. The pair had a fierce rivalry on the golf course – notably at the 1996 Masters when Norman conceded a six-shot lead to all but hand Faldo a third Green Jacket – while in more recent times Faldo has been publicly critical in Norman’s involvement in the establishment and subsequent rise of LIV Golf.
“Nick said some things about me during my time at LIV, some really nasty things,” Norman explained. “I don’t have any respect for someone who gives their opinion on something in that sort of manner when they don’t know both sides.
“We have a history, he could have called me and asked for the other side of the story, and I’d have gladly given it. And if he still hadn’t agreed then fine – his opinion and as he knows the facts, he would have been entitled to say anything he likes. Happy days.
“But just to sound off? Like I said, no respect for him. He still comes out with stuff that’s interestingly stupid, to be honest with you.”
Now, via a statement released from his company, Faldo Enterprises, the six-time major champion has lived up to his promise for a response, and has even included screenshots of a text exchange between the pair – including one where Faldo wishes Norman well after he was hospitalized with Covid-19.
Another screenshot showed a video message of Faldo inviting Norman to be appear on his YouTube Channel in which he insisted it would not be “all about LIV” or an attempt to “corner” him.
Faldo said: “We’ve had our battles through the years, so I think that would be interesting to talk about. And with LIV, of course we will have a difference in opinion, and we won’t see eye-to-eye, but it’s just our opinions. It’s not to corner you in any way, I’ll be fascinated by how you got to that and where we are now, and what you think is the way forward for global golf. That’s the tone of the whole thing.”
Faldo had planned to have Norman on his show in December 2022, six months after LIV Golf’s inaugural event at Centurion, near London, but the Australian rejected the offer.
The reply, purportedly from Norman, read: “Thanks for thinking of me for this. I think we both can agree that our relationship over the years hasn’t always been the best, and we don’t see eye-to-eye on everything, so probably best to pass on this for both of us. Good luck with your project.”
Faldo then made one more attempt via video message, saying: “We will control the narrative of this. We were inside the ropes. There is no journalist that had the right sense of what we do, feel, think, or that fully understands what our life was like. If we do this, the world of golf will listen to what you have to say.”
It is not clear whether or not Norman replied to that video.
At the conclusion of the statement, Faldo said that “given the passage of time and the changes that have since taken place within the game of golf”, he “does not consider that discussion a relevant one to reopen”.