A fuming Wayne Grady came out firing in response to Norman's criticism of the PGA Tour of Australasia in the wake of the collapse of the Greg Normal International.
Grady, the Australasian tour chairman, said he was offended by Norman's scathing comments on his website, Shark.com.
"Greg says we need unity between promoters and the organisations . . . what a great way to start," Grady said. "I'll have to put in a call to Greg.
"If Greg is that worried (about Australian golf tournaments), why sell his Aussie tournaments and then go away? Give me a break."
In his website article, Norman accused the PGA Tour of failing to get "its act together and provide an opportunity for players from around the world to compete".
He also effectively blamed the PGA for the demise of his signature tournament in Sydney, scheduled for 2002, because of a failure to attract a network television partner.
Grady said it was "totally false" to blame the PGA for the tournament's collapse because the Norman International had television coverage organised for it. "They had dates, they had times, they just weren't happy with what they had," he said.
"It is ridiculous. Economics was the reason (and) to lump us in it is wrong.
"I rejected that last week, and I reject it again now. If Greg was that interested in it, then he would run it himself."
Norman stressed in his criticism that it was not a personal assault on Grady but that his fellow major winner needed support from a "solid administrator" to replace former chief executive Andy Laidlaw, who recently resigned.
Norman said he was a proud Australian who had always, and would always, support the Australasian tour.
