The Masters: Fred Ridley buoyed by the peaceful mood at Augusta, despite Greg Norman snub

Fred Ridley, chairman of Augusta National, addressed a whole host of topics during his annual chat when he spoke with the media ahead of the 87th playing of The Masters. The appearance of LIV players onsite this week, news that Greg Norman, who is the CEO of the breakaway tour, was snubbed from the invite list, the recent announcement from the United States Golf Association (USGA) and the Royal & Ancient (R&A) about rolling the ball back and new qualification requirements for The Masters were all discussed at length.

Ad While there has been an appetite for some potential drama this week as LIV golfers mingle with their former PGA Tour and DP World Tour colleagues, Ridley echoed a similar sentiment that Rory McIlroy and Dustin Johnson commented on earlier in the week. MastersMcIlroy gets set for latest attempt at the 'Career Grand Slam'YESTERDAY AT 11:44 There has been a lot of well documented bad blood, but flickers of peace seem to have broken out.

“I've noticed the tone has been really good here this week,” said Ridley, “Last night at the Champions Dinner, I would not have known that anything was going on in the world of professional golf other than the norm. «So I think, and I'm hopeful, that this week might get people thinking in a little bit different direction and things will change.

Golf brings people together, and I'm hopeful this week as Augusta can be the beginning of a path forward for our game.” Despite the peace that has been on display so far this week, it emerged a couple of days ago that former Masters winner and LIV figurehead Norman has been taken off the Augusta invite list. Wanting to avoid any potential distractions, chairman Ridley outlined the reasons.