Norman has been advised by his doctors not to play again in 2009 after undergoing arthroscopic shoulder surgery in September, forcing him out of his highly-anticipated return to the NSW Golf Club at La Perouse.

At 54, the five-time winner would still have been the No1 drawcard at the December 3-6 tournament and a handy riposte to Tiger Woods's appearance at next week's Australian Masters.

Golf Australia chief executive Stephen Pitt couldn't mask his disappointment at the announcement.

''He is a drawcard and it is a shame ... He loves the Australian Open and I'm sure he's disappointed that he can't take his place.''

The slower than expected recovery from surgery will also force Norman to miss his own event, The Shark Shootout, to be held the week after the Open in Florida.

Thankfully for Open organisers, it doesn't spell the end of Norman's long association with the tournament, having signed a deal back in June to compete in the next three Australian Opens.

Following the Shark's announcement, Pitt was turning his attention to the quality field that will tee up in Sydney.

Adam Scott, who showed a promising return to form in his third-placing at last week's Singapore Open, will play after a knee injury kept him out of the 2008 Open.

Geoff Ogilvy, Aaron Baddeley, Stuart Appleby and John Senden are also competing along with John Daly and his fellow Americans Steve Marino and Kevin Stadler.

''From our perspective we're still really excited about the event and it's still a great field,'' he said.

''The silver lining [of Norman's withdrawal] is some of the focus goes on some of the younger players coming through who probably haven't had as much attention as they deserve.

''A couple of examples would be Michael Sim and Marc Leishman, who have been in dominating form over the last year and look like they have a really bright future for Australian golf.

''Maybe more focus goes on them and people will be able to see them play for the first time.''

AAP