Will LIV Golf tournament players be allowed to compete in the 2023 Masters?
Past Masters champions have a lifetime exemption, and high performers at the other three majors earn exemptions of varying lengths.
Two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson is among the more accomplished players who has left the PGA Tour for LIV, though he has yet to feature in a LIV event.
When asked about a possible major ban on Wednesday at a press conference, Watson admitted he was worried about the potential of missing the Masters.
“For me, it’s a weird situation, being a Masters Champion…” Watson said on Wednesday. “Augusta, right now, we can play in it, and I’m hoping, and praying, that they make the right decisions and past champions and people, we can all start playing.”
Lifetime exemption
Watson has a lifetime exemption to the Masters, as do fellow LIV players/Masters champions Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Charl Schwartzel, Patrick Reed and Sergio Garcia.
LIV players have won seven of the past 13 Masters, which presents a challenging situation for Augusta National, devoted as it is to its ethos of producing the best possible tournament every year.
Bubba’s Augusta concerns
“I sat my kids down and told them there is a possibility we can’t go to Augusta,” Watson added. “If they [the powers that be at Augusta National] tell me I can’t go, [even being a] past champion, then I don’t want to be there anyway because that’s just the wrong way to look at it”
Much of the Masters field is drawn from the players who rank in the world’s top 50 shortly before each year’s tournament, the Masters’ own criteria offer a few other ways for LIV players to play their way into the field.
Smith eligible for Masters
LIV’s Cam Smith, under current qualifying rules, would be eligible to play in the Masters from next year through the 2027 tournament on the basis of his 2022 Open Championship win.
Several US amateur winners, like Andy Ogletree and James Piot, have jumped to LIV; they were entitled to one Masters tournament the year after their victory.
“The No. 2 player in the world (Smith) is now here,” Watson continued. “So if you’re going to try to see the best players in the world, then you should have World Ranking points (for LIV) because these are the best players in the world here, just like everywhere else across the world.”
“We earn our place in the majors and if they want to see real competition, they have to have the top players,” Joaquin Niemann added. “That’s why the majors are there.”
When is the Masters?
The 2023 Masters will run from April 6-9 and there has been no official talk of a LIV ban yet.
Augusta National has the right to invite players at its own discretion and it remains to be seen how many LIV players will feature at next year’s tournament.