Doug Ferguson, Associated Press

NORTH BERWICK, UNITED KINGDOM — Greg Norman has already discussed the possibility of competing at the British Open next week. However, he wasn’t even invited to the former champions’ dinner at St. Andrews.

Norman, who won the British Open at Turnberry in 1986 and Royal St. George’s in 1993, would have been eligible for the famous “Celebration of Champions,” a four-hole friendly competition held only at St. Andrews, as well as the former champions dinner

The Royal & Ancient (R&A) said on Saturday that it had contacted Norman to say “we have decided that he will not be invited to attend these events”.

“The 150th British Open is an event of great significance to golf and we wanted to make sure it was all about the tournament and its legacy,” the R&A said. Unfortunately, we believe that would not be the case if Greg were here.”

Norman has been seen as a firebrand in the golf world since he was named chairman and chief operating officer of the Saudi-funded LIV Tour, which has so far paid around $150 million to secure the services of former champions like Dustin. Johnson, Brooks Koepka, and Bryson DeChambeau. In addition, his tournaments are limited to three rounds, with a draw start, and each of them distributes 25 million dollars in purses.

Norman described the decision as “insignificant” to the Australian Golf Digest.

“I’m disappointed. I would have thought the R&A would have stayed away from that, given its place in the world of golf, he said. It’s meaningless, because all I’ve done is promote and develop golf on the planet, both inside and outside of the field, for more than four decades.

The PGA has suspended players who have agreed to join the LIV Tour, and the European Tour is imposing $120,000 fines on golfers every time they play a tournament in the controversial series.

Norman had previously angered R&A in an interview with News Corp earlier this year. in which he said that he was busy completing the paperwork for the 150th British Open, before adding that “I think I can still participate”.

In response, the R&A said in a statement that “we do not anticipate granting any new exemptions.”