Fred Couples and Greg Norman’s son in Twitter spat

Former Masters champion Fred Couples and Greg Norman’s son have clashed on social media as the discord in men’s professional golf continues to rumble.

Couples, the winner of the Green Jacket in 1992 and a long-standing critic of the Norman-fronted LIV Golf, aimed a thinly disguised dig at the Aussie over his presence at Augusta National this week.

The LIV CEO was forced to buy tickets for the event on the secondary market after reportedly being denied a pass through other channels.

After missing the cut at The Masters, Couples tweeted: “13 @livgolf_league players in the field for @themasters and none of them could get @sharkgregnorman a ticket? Greg had to buy one? Next year if you need one Shark let me know.”

That was spotted by Greg Norman Jnr, who responded in furious fashion.

• Johnson denies telling Masters patrons to “f**k off”

• A morning eavesdropping on the patrons at Augusta National

“So glad we beat you in 2008 at Skills,” he said, referencing the parent-and-child ADT Skills Challenge event, now known as the PNC Championship.

“Let me break this down for you. It was never about getting a free ticket. He was always going to buy a ticket.

“He wanted to do the right thing by requesting to purchase a ticket directly from the tournament. They denied the request. So he bought one anyway.

“He didn’t want a free ticket from anyone or bother any player with something like this.

• ‘I spent an hour at the Masters Par-3 Contest so you don’t have to’

• Tiger Woods makes history (again) at the Masters

“The point was how nice everyone was to him on site and how the majority of folks are not cold-hearted trolls like someone fools are on the internet who do nothing but continue attempting to divide.”

Norman Snr has been at Augusta National most of this week.

Speakling to the Washington Post on Wednesday, he insisted that he had been warmly received by fellow patrons, saying: “Walking around here today, there’s not one person who said to me, ‘Why did you do LIV?’

“There’s been hundreds of people, even security guys, stopping me, saying, ‘Hey, what you’re doing is fantastic.’”

Michael McEwan is the Deputy Editor of bunkered and has been part of the team since 2004. In that time, he has interviewed almost every major figure within the sport, from Jack Nicklaus, to Rory McIlroy, to Donald Trump. The host of the multi award-winning bunkered Podcast and a member of Balfron Golfing Society, Michael is the author of three books and is the 2023 PPA Scotland 'Writer of the Year' and 'Columnist of the Year'. Dislikes white belts, yellow balls and iron headcovers. Likes being drawn out of the media ballot to play Augusta National.

Deputy Editor