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The PGA Tour and LIV Golf are back together again.
Well, briefly at least.
A dozen members from the Saudi Arabian-backed circuit are in the field this week at the Masters, which will mark just one of four events this season where the two tours are integrated again. The Tour and the Public Investment Fund, which backs LIV Golf, are still in negotiations about their proposed merger. It's still unclear when that will be finalized, though, as it's been almost two full years now since the surprise announcement. Negotiations don't seem like they're getting anywhere, either.
"I think we all would like to see that," Jon Rahm said Tuesday when asked about the golf world coming back together again. "But as far as I can tell and you guys can tell, it's not happening anytime soon."
This is the fewest amount of golfers that LIV has had in the Masters since its inception, and more than half of them have lifetime exemptions due to past wins at Augusta National. One golfer, Joaquin Niemann, received a special exemption to earn a spot in the field.
There are 20 different ways to earn a spot in the Masters field, starting with winning the event. That earns a lifetime exemption into the tournament, while wins at the other three majors earn entry for the next five years. A win at The Players Championship gives a three-year exemption. If you finish inside the top 12 in the Masters, you are automatically invited back the following year. A top four finish at any of the other major championship also guarantees an invitation. Any PGA Tour win within a calendar year and those who are inside the top 50 in the Official World Golf Rankings are invited, too. LIV Golf still does not earn OWGR points, however, which is making it increasingly difficult for members to earn major spots.
While this is a unique moment for the sport with everyone back together again, it's only going to happen three more times this year.
"Anytime I get an opportunity to play against everyone, the best players in the world, it's great. I think that's what we're all hoping for at some point is for that to be figured out," Bryson DeChambeau said. "That's beyond me and beyond my scope, unfortunately.
"I think at some point if the players get all together, I think we could figure it out. But it's a lot more complicated, obviously, than what we all think. Hopefully one day it'll get figured out and we can make that happen."
Here’s a look at the 12 LIV Golf members competing for a green jacket this week in Georgia.
Jon Rahm is one of seven former Masters winners in the field this week that has since joined LIV Golf. (Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
Richard Heathcote via Getty Images
Jon Rahm
Best finish: 1 (2023)
Status: Lifetime exemption
Jon Rahm was perhaps the best golfer to join the LIV circuit, and it’s shown at the Masters. He won in 2023, and he’s not missed a single cut there. Last season, though, was his worst outing with a T45 run.
Patrick Reed
Best finish: 1 (2018)
Status: Lifetime exemption
Patrick Reed won his Masters title before making the jump to LIV Golf, but he’s been in contention in just about every year since. He’s not finished worse than T35, made every cut and finished T4 in 2023. He’s only missed one cut at a major since joining LIV Golf, too.
Dustin Johnson
Best finish: 1 (2020)
Status: Lifetime exemption
Dustin Johnson has been on a steady decline since his Masters win, which came at the rescheduled COVID-19 version in 2020. He missed the cut last year, too, and didn’t finish better than T31 in any of his major appearances.
Phil Mickelson
Best finish: 1 (2004, 2006, 2010)
Status: Lifetime exemption
Phil Mickelson is the only LIV Golf member to have won a green jacket three times, but it’s been 15 years since he last pulled that feat off. The 54-year-old, though, has largely struggled at the major championships in recent years. He’s missed the cut in eight of his last 12 major starts, including in his last four U.S. Open runs. But his two outliers in the last four years were incredible. He won the PGA Championship in 2021, which was his first major win in nearly a decade, and he finished T2 at the Masters in 2023.
While it would take a remarkable week, Mickelson knows how to play well at Augusta National.
Bubba Watson
Best finish: 1 (2012, 2014)
Status: Lifetime exemption
Like Mickelson, Bubba Watson is the only other LIV Golf member to have won the Masters multiple times. But his last win was more than a decade ago now, and he’s missed the cut in each of the last two years and he hasn’t finished better than T39 since making the jump to LIV Golf. The Masters has been the only major he’s played in since the 2022 campaign, too.
Sergio Garcia
Best finish: 1 (2017)
Status: Lifetime exemption
Sergio Garcia finally grabbed his first major championship win with his playoff victory at Augusta National in 2017. He’s struggled to keep his eligibility in the other three events since then, however, and he’s missed the cut at the Masters in five of his last six starts.
Charl Schwartzel
Best finish: 1 (2011)
Status: Lifetime exemption
The Masters is one of just two PGA Tour wins that Charl Schwartzel has to his name, though it came nearly 15 years ago. He’s missed the cut in three of his last six starts at Augusta, though there’s a T10 finish in there.
Bryson DeChambeau is one of just 12 LIV Golf members in the field this week. (Thananuwat Srirasant/Getty Images)
Thananuwat Srirasant via Getty Images
Bryson DeChambeau
Best finish: T6 (2024)
Status: Through 2029 (U.S. Open win, 2024)
Bryson DeChambeau is seemingly in the best position to win a major this season among the LIV Golf group. He won the U.S. Open last year, finished second at the PGA Championship and went T6 at Augusta National, which was his best Masters finish on record. It came after back-to-back missed cuts in the event, however, so we’ll quickly see if last year’s performance was just an outlier.
Brooks Koepka
Best finish: T2 (2019, 2023)
Status: Through 2028 (PGA Championship win, 2023)
After a dominant majors run before LIV Golf, Brooks Koepka has largely slowed down. He didn’t finish inside the top 20 in any of them last season, but he went T2 at the Masters in 2023 and won the PGA Championship a month later. It was his second runner-up finish at the Masters in the last five years.
Tyrrell Hatton
Best finish: T9 (2024)
Status: Through 2025 (T9 finish at the Masters, 2024)
Tyrrell Hatton has missed the cut just once in his last 12 major starts, and he’s coming off the best Masters finish in his career last season. He has nine international wins in his career, one of which was on the PGA Tour, and he won last year on LIV Golf in Nashville shortly after joining.
Joaquin Niemann
Best finish: T16 (2023)
Status: Through 2025 (Special Exemption)
Joaquin Niemann has just two PGA Tour wins in his career, and he’s only in this week on a special exemption. He did win twice on LIV Golf last year and he won the PIF Saudi International in December, however, so he’s still playing great golf despite his lack of points or standing. He finished T22 last year at the Masters. Mickelson recently insinuated that Niemann is the No. 1 player in the world, too.
Cameron Smith
Best finish: T2 (2020)
Status: Through 2027 (British Open win, 2022)
Cameron Smith has been great at the Masters, even though he’s yet to win a green jacket. He has four top-10 finishes in his last six starts, including a runner-up finish in 2021 and a T6 finish last year. Though he has just one major win in his career, he feels due to finally break through soon.
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Well, briefly at least.
A dozen members from the Saudi Arabian-backed circuit are in the field this week at the Masters, which will mark just one of four events this season where the two tours are integrated again. The Tour and the Public Investment Fund, which backs LIV Golf, are still in negotiations about their proposed merger. It's still unclear when that will be finalized, though, as it's been almost two full years now since the surprise announcement. Negotiations don't seem like they're getting anywhere, either.
"I think we all would like to see that," Jon Rahm said Tuesday when asked about the golf world coming back together again. "But as far as I can tell and you guys can tell, it's not happening anytime soon."
This is the fewest amount of golfers that LIV has had in the Masters since its inception, and more than half of them have lifetime exemptions due to past wins at Augusta National. One golfer, Joaquin Niemann, received a special exemption to earn a spot in the field.
There are 20 different ways to earn a spot in the Masters field, starting with winning the event. That earns a lifetime exemption into the tournament, while wins at the other three majors earn entry for the next five years. A win at The Players Championship gives a three-year exemption. If you finish inside the top 12 in the Masters, you are automatically invited back the following year. A top four finish at any of the other major championship also guarantees an invitation. Any PGA Tour win within a calendar year and those who are inside the top 50 in the Official World Golf Rankings are invited, too. LIV Golf still does not earn OWGR points, however, which is making it increasingly difficult for members to earn major spots.
While this is a unique moment for the sport with everyone back together again, it's only going to happen three more times this year.
"Anytime I get an opportunity to play against everyone, the best players in the world, it's great. I think that's what we're all hoping for at some point is for that to be figured out," Bryson DeChambeau said. "That's beyond me and beyond my scope, unfortunately.
"I think at some point if the players get all together, I think we could figure it out. But it's a lot more complicated, obviously, than what we all think. Hopefully one day it'll get figured out and we can make that happen."
Here’s a look at the 12 LIV Golf members competing for a green jacket this week in Georgia.
You must be registered for see images attach
Jon Rahm is one of seven former Masters winners in the field this week that has since joined LIV Golf. (Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
Richard Heathcote via Getty Images
LIV Golf at the Masters: Former Winners
Jon Rahm
Best finish: 1 (2023)
Status: Lifetime exemption
Jon Rahm was perhaps the best golfer to join the LIV circuit, and it’s shown at the Masters. He won in 2023, and he’s not missed a single cut there. Last season, though, was his worst outing with a T45 run.
Patrick Reed
Best finish: 1 (2018)
Status: Lifetime exemption
Patrick Reed won his Masters title before making the jump to LIV Golf, but he’s been in contention in just about every year since. He’s not finished worse than T35, made every cut and finished T4 in 2023. He’s only missed one cut at a major since joining LIV Golf, too.
Dustin Johnson
Best finish: 1 (2020)
Status: Lifetime exemption
Dustin Johnson has been on a steady decline since his Masters win, which came at the rescheduled COVID-19 version in 2020. He missed the cut last year, too, and didn’t finish better than T31 in any of his major appearances.
Phil Mickelson
Best finish: 1 (2004, 2006, 2010)
Status: Lifetime exemption
Phil Mickelson is the only LIV Golf member to have won a green jacket three times, but it’s been 15 years since he last pulled that feat off. The 54-year-old, though, has largely struggled at the major championships in recent years. He’s missed the cut in eight of his last 12 major starts, including in his last four U.S. Open runs. But his two outliers in the last four years were incredible. He won the PGA Championship in 2021, which was his first major win in nearly a decade, and he finished T2 at the Masters in 2023.
While it would take a remarkable week, Mickelson knows how to play well at Augusta National.
Bubba Watson
Best finish: 1 (2012, 2014)
Status: Lifetime exemption
Like Mickelson, Bubba Watson is the only other LIV Golf member to have won the Masters multiple times. But his last win was more than a decade ago now, and he’s missed the cut in each of the last two years and he hasn’t finished better than T39 since making the jump to LIV Golf. The Masters has been the only major he’s played in since the 2022 campaign, too.
Sergio Garcia
Best finish: 1 (2017)
Status: Lifetime exemption
Sergio Garcia finally grabbed his first major championship win with his playoff victory at Augusta National in 2017. He’s struggled to keep his eligibility in the other three events since then, however, and he’s missed the cut at the Masters in five of his last six starts.
Charl Schwartzel
Best finish: 1 (2011)
Status: Lifetime exemption
The Masters is one of just two PGA Tour wins that Charl Schwartzel has to his name, though it came nearly 15 years ago. He’s missed the cut in three of his last six starts at Augusta, though there’s a T10 finish in there.
You must be registered for see images attach
Bryson DeChambeau is one of just 12 LIV Golf members in the field this week. (Thananuwat Srirasant/Getty Images)
Thananuwat Srirasant via Getty Images
LIV Golf at the Masters: Other entries
Bryson DeChambeau
Best finish: T6 (2024)
Status: Through 2029 (U.S. Open win, 2024)
Bryson DeChambeau is seemingly in the best position to win a major this season among the LIV Golf group. He won the U.S. Open last year, finished second at the PGA Championship and went T6 at Augusta National, which was his best Masters finish on record. It came after back-to-back missed cuts in the event, however, so we’ll quickly see if last year’s performance was just an outlier.
Brooks Koepka
Best finish: T2 (2019, 2023)
Status: Through 2028 (PGA Championship win, 2023)
After a dominant majors run before LIV Golf, Brooks Koepka has largely slowed down. He didn’t finish inside the top 20 in any of them last season, but he went T2 at the Masters in 2023 and won the PGA Championship a month later. It was his second runner-up finish at the Masters in the last five years.
Tyrrell Hatton
Best finish: T9 (2024)
Status: Through 2025 (T9 finish at the Masters, 2024)
Tyrrell Hatton has missed the cut just once in his last 12 major starts, and he’s coming off the best Masters finish in his career last season. He has nine international wins in his career, one of which was on the PGA Tour, and he won last year on LIV Golf in Nashville shortly after joining.
Joaquin Niemann
Best finish: T16 (2023)
Status: Through 2025 (Special Exemption)
Joaquin Niemann has just two PGA Tour wins in his career, and he’s only in this week on a special exemption. He did win twice on LIV Golf last year and he won the PIF Saudi International in December, however, so he’s still playing great golf despite his lack of points or standing. He finished T22 last year at the Masters. Mickelson recently insinuated that Niemann is the No. 1 player in the world, too.
Cameron Smith
Best finish: T2 (2020)
Status: Through 2027 (British Open win, 2022)
Cameron Smith has been great at the Masters, even though he’s yet to win a green jacket. He has four top-10 finishes in his last six starts, including a runner-up finish in 2021 and a T6 finish last year. Though he has just one major win in his career, he feels due to finally break through soon.
Continue reading...
