A key element of Masters intrigue exists outside the ropes. Will Greg Norman and Yasir al-Rumayyan appear at Augusta National next week? It has become increasingly futile for golf’s establishment to ignore LIV and its Saudi Arabian backers but Augusta’s custodians are extremely precious about potential distraction from the first major of the year.
If Norman and the governor of the Saudi Public Investment Fund are spotted under the famous oak tree at the Masters it will serve as the latest indication of the normalisation or legitimacy LIV has craved since it was merely a PowerPoint plan. This has been the most expensive foot-in-the-door project in sporting history; LIV continues apace in year three with $25m (£19.8m) events, even before the hundreds of millions spent on coaxing players in the first place is considered.
