Players that meet certain requirements, including as Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, and Cameron Smith, who left for LIV Golf, will receive invitations to the Masters.
With lawsuits, countersuits, and no shortage of hatred and bad blood, the conflict between and the previous several months has been quite vocal and public.
Before, the PGA Tour insisted that any golfer who switched to LIV would be barred from PGA Tour competitions, and that’s exactly what happened. But on Tuesday, the Masters said that all golfers, including LIV players, who meet the requirements can compete in the event, which will take place at Augusta National from April 6–9.
Six former Masters champions, Sergio Garcia, Bubba Watson, Charl Schwartzel, and Patrick Reed, as well as Cameron Smith, who have already won major events in the previous five years, are among the 16 LIV Golf players that will be eligible to compete. According to their current FedEx Cup and global rankings, Talor Gooch, Jason Kokrak, Kevin Na, Joaquin Niemann, Louis Oosthuizen, and Harold Varner III are other players that are eligible.
The statement from the tournament’s chair, Fred Ridley, stated that “we have reached a pivotal time in the history of our sport.” At Augusta National, we have confidence that golf, which has persevered despite several obstacles over the years, will do so once more.
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The Saudi Arabian government owns and supports LIV Golf, which spent hundreds of millions of dollars wooing top players with promises of money and. A team structure, 54-hole competitions, shotgun starts, and no cuts were among the innovations. Scottie Scheffler received a $2.7 million prize for winning the 2022 Masters, but Schwartzel won $4.75 million at LIV’s first event at Centurion.
To stop further defection, the PGA Tour made a number of modifications, including increasing prize money for important competitions and introducing a Monday Night Golf series in the form of a stadium in 2024.
Future plans for LIV include a partnership with the PGA Tour, the resignation of its COO Atul Khosla over the weekend, and the introduction of a 14-team competition in February.
