Players who have defected from the PGA Tour to join Saudi Arabia-funded LIV Golf are still welcome at next year’s Masters, although Augusta National officials expressed disappointment with the division on Tuesday, she caused in the Gulf.
The Masters, the smallest field among the four majors, is an invitation-only event and it was questionable whether it would honor the suspension of PGA Tour players – including past Masters champions – from joining a competing league.
Chairman Fred Ridley introduced the tournament to the ongoing battle now unfolding in federal courts with antitrust claims and counterclaims.
“While we are disappointed with these developments, our focus is on honoring the tradition of bringing together an outstanding field of golfers this coming April,” Ridley said in a statement, which were his first comments on how Augusta National viewed the divide.
“As such, when invitations are sent out this week, we will be inviting those who are eligible under our current criteria to enter the 2023 Masters tournament.”
Sixteen players with LIV Golf are among the 78 players currently qualifying for the Masters. That includes six Masters champions – Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed, Sergio Garcia, Bubba Watson and Charl Schwarzel.
Three others have won Majors that come with a five-year waiver: British Open champion Cameron Smith, former US Open and PGA champion Brooks Koepka and former US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau.
Joaquin Niemann qualified by capturing the Tour championship, while six others will finish the year in the world top 50 – Abraham Ancer, Talor Gooch, Harold Varner III, Jason Kokrak, Kevin Na and Louis Oosthuizen.
It has yet to be determined how Augusta National will respond after the 2023 tournament.
“As we have said in the past, we review every aspect of the tournament each year and any modifications or changes to the invitation criteria for future tournaments will be announced in April,” said Ridley.
Mickelson, a three-time Masters champion, decided not to compete last year after he lashed out from public reluctance over his snide comments about the Saudi Arabians’ funding of the new league, the Tour and his ultimate goal of making the PGA Tour alter, recover landscape.
Drawing on the Masters legacy, Ridley listed nine players – from Byron Nelson, Ben Hogan and Sam Snead to the Big Three of Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus. He pointed to Tiger Woods and Tom Watson, all of whom he said have “become heroes to golfers of all ages”.
Notably missing from his list was Mickelson, who is considered the key recruiter among players for LIV Golf.
“They have inspired a few to follow in their footsteps and so many others to play and enjoy the game,” said Ridley. “You have supported the sport and thus everyone who benefits from it. They showed respect for their predecessors and paved the way for future generations. Golf is better because of them.
“Unfortunately, recent actions have divided men’s professional golf by diminishing the virtues of the game and the significant legacies of those who built it.”
The British Open have said they would not turn away those eligible. The US Open hasn’t said if their criteria will change; that is expected at the USGA annual meeting in February. The PGA Championship has not said what it will do.
The Masters prefer to keep their field below 100 players and aim to do so. Players who win PGA Tour events with full FedEx Cup points are eligible, and the club will accept anyone else who finishes in the top 50 in the world a week before the Masters.
LIV Golf isn’t receiving any world ranking points – his bid is pending – and it’s unlikely anyone else from LIV will crack the top 50 before then.
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