British Open 2024: Greg Norman in attendance at Troon with official R&A guest badge

TROON, Scotland — In Greg Norman’s words, it’s nice to be back at the British Open, and it’s even nicer to be back at Royal Troon.

“In 1989, I birdied the first six holes of the final round, shot 64, then birdied the first two holes of the [four-hole aggregate playoff] and still didn’t win; I’m still trying to figure this place out,” Norman told Golf Digest as he watched the action at Troon on Saturday with an official R&A guest badge.

Mark Calcavecchia won that playoff over Norman and another Australian, Wayne Grady. But Norman’s record at the Open, by the time he’d hung up the clubs, included claret jug wins in 1986, down the road from Troon at Turnberry, and in 1993 at Royal St George’s.

Recently though, it’s been more complicated. Two years ago when the R&A celebrated the 150th Open at St. Andrews, Norman was not extended an invitation to the Champions’ dinner. A month ahead of the championship, Norman helped launch LIV Golf as its CEO and commissioner, and the R&A noted with Norman in attendance, it could not guarantee the focus would be on the celebrations surrounding milestone Open moment. Norman’s fellow Australian, Cameron Smith, won on the Old Course and later that summer joined LIV.

Three months ago, Norman drew headlines when he came to the Masters at Augusta National as a ticketed patron. Norman was a runner-up at the Masters three times. The R&A confirmed that Norman, who recently indicated he intended to come to Troon, was extended the same official privileges all former Open champions can access each year. That includes hospitality.

“It's good to be back,” Norman said. “The Open has a lot of history for me. To me, it was the best championship of all. The Masters is the Masters, but I put this one up above all four of them because it is a true open. People can come and play [qualify]. I love the way they rotate the host course and it’s links golf. In my professional career, I prided myself on coming back and playing the Open Championship.

“I think that was the right thing for golf, yeah,” Norman added. “I think in the beginning there was a lot of I guess misinterpretation of the situation [LIV Golf’s divide with the PGA Tour]. I love seeing the way things have settled down, now. Everybody's seen that within the ecosystem, LIV Golf has been accepted and the players deserve to be in these big championships.”

Norman was referring to special exemption Augusta National extended to LIV player Joaquin Niemann for this year’s Masters. A month later, seven LIV players were including in exemptions from the PGA of America for the PGA Championship at Valhalla. LIV star Bryson DeChambeau won last month’s U.S. Open at Pinehurst, before a contingent of 18 LIV players teed up in this week’s Open Championship. That included two who made it through 36-hole final qualifying.

Norman was visibly excited seeing Troon, taking a bit of delight in watching the south Ayrshire wind and rain test players thus far. Ten of the world’s top 20 players— including 2014 winner, Rory McIlroy, Ludvig Aberg and DeChambeau—missed the cut.

“Troon is a tough golf course,” Norman said. “Yesterday, the wind for the first couple of holes, around 1 p.m. or 2 p.m., was blowing really solid. And then when you make the turn, you’ve got all that wind pushing the ball towards the railway line around Nos. 10 and 11. Those holes become even more difficult because you never play the golf course truly straight into the wind or straight downwind. It's always testing your ball flight and how you spin the golf ball. It's a quirky golf course and you have to put it in the right place.”

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Is it the British Open or the Open Championship? The name of the final men’s major of the golf season is a subject of continued discussion. The event’s official name, as explained in this op-ed by former R&A chairman Ian Pattinson, is the Open Championship. But since many United States golf fans continue to refer to it as the British Open, and search news around the event accordingly, Golf Digest continues to utilize both names in its coverage.

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