Greg Norman ditches 2024 Masters as at least one high ranking LIV Golf official receives invite - Reports

Greg Norman won't be at the 2024 Masters. One high-ranking LIV Golf member will be in attendance, but it won't be the CEO.

There is no reported reason for his absence, but there has been a rift between Norman and Augusta National over the years and they didn't extend him an invitation last year.

They stated last year that they wanted to keep the focus exclusively on the competition, so they ignored the former golfer. Ridley confirmed that they didn't send an invitation last year, something that Norman said was "petty" of Augusta.

The chairman also noted that Norman had hardly accepted their invitations (only came to two of the last 10 Masters), and thus they decided not to extend one again.

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Nick Faldo doesn't want LIV Golf star Jon Rahm to win the Masters

Jon Rahm might be able to repeat as the Masters winner if he can survive this weekend. He won it all in 2023 by a fairly wide margin, so he has the rare chance to follow it up with another. Nick Faldo doesn't want him to do so, and it's only partly due to his overall dislike of LIV Golf.

Nick Faldo doesn't want Jon Rahm to win

Faldo hinted at money being the primary reason for Rahm's departure, but he reasoned that the competitive level Rahm now experiences just can't be the same as it was on the PGA Tour.

Via Telegraph, he said:

“These events are on resort courses, without the atmosphere or intensity. At the Masters, you’re thrown in at the deep end, and it’s always good to have played under full intensity."

Faldo noted that the best players are doing just that: choosing the right events, testing themselves against top-notch fields, and angling to prepare all the time for the major tournaments. He hopes that Rahm saw Scottie Scheffler's Players Championship win and felt jealous of not being there.

As for his chances at repeating as the Masters champion, Faldo is one of three players to ever do that. Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, and himself. He doesn't want to see Rahm's name etched into that book as well:

“Oh, I hope he misses defending. I like my little club of three. I was second to Jack, having been inspired by Jack. Then Tiger is obviously in every record book. I’m not pulling against him, but I’d like it to stay at three.”

Rahm has the third-best odds of winning behind Scheffler and Rory McIlroy. It's not far-fetched to imagine that he could win his second straight, but history certainly isn't on his side, and Faldo hinted that the LIV move might have hampered his chances of doing so.

No LIV member has ever won the Masters, but they have won majors before. Rahm will try to be the first and try to repeat and be the champion for his new tour, so there's certainly a lot going into his appearance this weekend.