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Four Aussies named for Norman tournament

Greg Norman, the CEO of LIV Golf, has said players should be able to be free agents who can compete anywhere.

Greg Norman, the CEO of LIV Golf, has said players should be able to be free agents who can compete anywhere. Photo: Getty

Australians Matt Jones, Wade Ormsby, Blake Windred and Jed Morgan have been named as confirmed players for the debut tournament of Greg Norman-run LIV Golf Invitational Series next week.

The quartet join some big names in former world No.1 Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia, Louis Oosthuizen, Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, Martin Kaymer, Branden Grace and Talor Gooch.

They were among 42 players named by LIV Golf for what is to be a 48-man field for the $US25 million ($35 million) event, with the remaining six to be announced later.

Phil Mickelson, who stepped away from the game in February amid fallout from comments he made regarding the Saudi-backed league, was not listed in the field for the June 9-11 event at Centurion Club outside London.

The US PGA Tour and DP World Tours have said they will refuse to grant releases for players to take part in the event, with LIV Golf seen as a rival to the world’s two biggest tours with its enormous budget.

It remains to be seen what that would mean for the likes of Jones, Ormsby plus the other established names who are on the PGA Tour or DP World Tour.

Young guns Windred and Morgan were able to get the spots offered to the top two finishers on the PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit.

However the event has attracted none of the world’s current top-10 players.

Norman has come in for strong criticism as CEO of LIV Golf, with critics slamming the mega-rich series as a means of “sports washing” for Saudi Arabia’s human rights record.

The field for London also includes three amateurs — 15-year-old Ratchanon “TK” Chantananuwat of Thailand, Spain’s David Puig and 2021 US Amateur champion James Piot — along with Brooks Koepka’s brother, Chase Koepka.

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