LIV Golf chief Greg Norman ‘being awkward’ around Rory McIlroy at Masters

Greg Norman surprisingly showed up as a patron at the Masters Tournament this week and chose to follow Rory McIlroy, his long-time PGA Tour rival, during the first round on Thursday.

Greg Norman, the CEO of LIV Golf, is being criticized for his behavior around Rory McIlroy, his rival on the PGA Tour. Many golf fans were surprised when McIlroy, who was once ranked as the number one golfer in the world, attended the Masters tournament this week as a spectator. Norman attended Augusta on both Wednesday and Thursday and chose to follow McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler, and Xander Schauffele during the first round.

The fact that the Australian opted to follow this particular group surprised many, especially considering his past conflicts with McIlroy. Those present stated that the head of the Saudi-supported league tried to get the notice of the four-time major champion, but was unsuccessful.

Chris Solomon of the No Laying Up Podcast said: “I had somebody come up and tell me yesterday, he’s like, so Norman like was out there like being really awkward with Rory at the practice round yesterday, like walking up to him, on five like on the ropes. Like trying to get his attention. Almost like being really weird.

“Sure enough, I show up on five and there’s the Shark just like hanging out there on the ropes like almost desperately trying to get Rory’s attention. He is turned around talking to people but as soon as Rory walks up he like is looking at him and staring at him awkwardly.

And it was just the weirdest scene. It was just like Rory never looked over and it was awkward… Norman is standing by the putting green, sees that that Rory’s gonna walk up. So walks over to this rope just like stands there and has this like s***-eating, laughing grin on his face, Rory walks by, doesn’t acknowledge him and then [Norman] just turns back around and goes back to the putting green.”

Despite his best efforts, Norman failed to get the attention of McIlroy, who speaking after his opening round one-under-par 71 on Thursday admitted he was not aware of the Aussie’s presence. Asked if he spotted Norman among the patrons, McIlroy claimed: “I did not. Didn’t see him.”

Norman left many surprised when opting to turn out at Augusta during Wednesday’s opening round. Taking to social media, the LIV CEO’s son, Greg Jr confirmed his two-time major-winning father was forced to source his own ticket via a secondary market having initially being denied one via the ‘professional channels’.

“My father bought a ticket from a reseller to go to the Masters as a spectator,” he posted on Twitter. “Even though he was initially denied through official channels, he still managed to attend in order to show support for the LIV players.

It was a fantastic experience; numerous golf enthusiasts came up to him as he walked along the course outside the designated areas.”

Everyone showed their support for him and LIV without any negativity.

The reason for sharing this is to highlight that despite facing hate from financially motivated opponents or malicious online trolls, the majority of people we encounter are positive and supportive fans of LIV or golf.