Imagine, if you will, this delightful story from the 2023 Masters: One of LIV Golf’s 18 players competing this week at Augusta National has the green jacket slung over his shoulders early Sunday night inside the butler’s hut. .
Does any storyline in golf get any juicier than this?
Clumsy .
There’s no more compelling storyline for this week’s Masters than how LIV players are faring, because there isn’t a more polarizing topic in golf right now.
Lines have been drawn in the sand bunkers since LIV’s inception last year with a number of top and highly rated players who have signed with the Saudi-backed tour for countless millions and have thus banned from participating in the PGA Tour.
Verbal chatter was exchanged between LIV players and those whose allegiance is firmly aligned with the PGA Tour.
Dustin Johnson receives the green jacket from Masters champion Tiger Woods after winning the Masters in 2020.Getty Images
This week’s Masters, which does not prohibit LIV players who are otherwise qualified for the course from competing, marks the first event in 2023 in which there is a mix between PGA Tour and LIV Golf players.
None of the four major championships have followed suit with the PGA Tour and banned LIV players.
Of the 18 LIV players competing at the Masters, six are former champions – Phil Mickelson, Bubba Watson, Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed, Sergio Garcia and Charl Schwartzel.
The others include reigning British Open champion Cam Smith, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, Abraham Ancer, Talor Gooch, Jason Kokrak, Kevin Na, Joaquin Niemann, Louis Oosthuizen, Mito Pereira, Thomas Pieters and Harold Varner III.
Curtis Strange, an ESPN analyst, wondered aloud last week if any of LIV’s players had a real chance of winning.
“Some of these players haven’t played a lot of competitive golf, so how sharp can they be from a player perspective,” Strange said. “It’s not because they play on the LIV Tour, the Asian Tour, the European Tour, whatever, it’s just that they haven’t played as much and as often as the [Scottie] Schefflers of the world and Cam Youngs.”
Strange was referring to the infrequent schedule of LIV games and the fact that its events are 54 holes instead of 72.
“I think for us internally there’s a lot of chatter about ‘These guys aren’t playing real golf anymore,'” Smith told reporters last week before the LIV event outside. from Orlando. “I think it’s BS to be honest, and we just want to show it to people. I think it’s important for us [LIV players] to go there, to really show a high level of golf that we know we are all capable of.
“Most of us will have four cracks this year [in the majors] and hopefully we can get a win out of that. ”
Smith has finished in the top 10 in four of his last five Masters starts, including a tie for third place last year and a tie for second place in 2020.
When asked what the reception of PGA Tour members and players would be like in Augusta this week, Smith said, “I’m really not sure, to be honest. I hope you’re OK. I had a great career around Augusta, and I hope I didn’t piss anyone off. I guess we’ll wait and see.”
Niemann, a 24-year-old Chilean, said he relishes the rivalry that has unfolded with the PGA Tour, casting LIV players as villains.
“I think it’s going to be more fun knowing they hate us,” Niemann said in an interview with Golf.com. “I think there’s a big rivalry going on right now between the Tour and LIV.”
The first real litmus test of just how awkward things can be in Augusta will come on Tuesday night when the annual Champions Dinner takes place at the clubhouse.
“The Champions Dinner has nothing to do with myself or anyone else in this room except Scottie Scheffler – it’s his dinner,” Reed recently told reporters.
“Champions Dinner is obviously going to be something we talk about,” Tiger Woods said recently. “Overall, we have to honor Scottie. Scottie is the winner. It’s his dinner. So making sure that Scottie is honored properly, but also realizing the nature of what happened and the people who left, where our situations are either legally or emotionally. There are many there.
Mickelson said he has “no expectations” for what the reception at Augusta will be for LIV players.
“A lot of people there who play and attend the Masters have been friends for decades, and I can’t wait to see them again,” he said.
Scheffler added, “With Augusta National being such a special place and with the history of the game and so on…I think we can put all our stuff aside and just get together for a fun meal, all in one room together. and just kind of celebrating the game of golf and Augusta National and just hanging out.”
Amen.
Source: Crumpe
Add Comment