Ben Crenshaw has admitted he is “a little concerned” about the imminent Champions Dinner ahead of the 2023 Masters.
The two-time winner made his final competitive appearance at the first men’s Major of the year in 2015, but acts as de-facto host for the pre-tournament dinner that brings together past champions and Augusta National Golf Club Chairman Fred Ridley.
However, ‘Gentle Ben’ is expecting his job to be a little tougher this year, with players from the traditional tours set to break bread with six members of LIV Golf who have previously slipped on the green jacket.
"I’m a little concerned to be honest," Crenshaw told Sports Illustrated. “I’m not sure what is going to happen. I’m expecting that cooler heads will prevail and everything will be fine."
Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia, Patrick Reed, Bubba Watson and Charl Schwartzel make up the LIV contingent expected to be in attendance for Scottie Scheffler’s feast, and how they are likely to be received when they rock up to the iconic Georgia venue has garnered plenty of attention in the build-up.
Wherever allegiances lie, however, Crenshaw hopes the night is focused on the defending champion and not on any ongoing quarrels that may or may not exist.
"Our job is to honour the champion Scottie Scheffler, not only for winning The Masters but for what a wonderful year he had last year – as he emerged as one of the best players in the world," Crenshaw said back in January.
"I hope the focus is on the champion and the tournament but I really just don’t know – I’ve been worried about it I’ll be honest.”
Tiger Woods also hinted it could be a little awkward ahead of the Genesis Invitational in February, admitting that friendships he previously had with some players on the breakaway circuit had “taken a different path”. The five-time Masters champion has been one of the most vocal critics of the Greg Norman-fronted venture but echoed Crenshaw's sentiment.
“We need to honour Scottie,” Woods said. “Scottie’s the winner, it’s his dinner. So making sure that Scottie gets honoured correctly but also realising the nature of what has transpired and the people that have left, just where our situations are either legally, emotionally, there’s a lot there.
“I don’t know what that reaction’s going to be, but we’ll see when all that transpires.”
Adding another layer of intrigue are the recent comments made by Gary Player, with the South African ranking the Masters as the worst of the four Majors and bemoaning the fact he has to “beg” a member to accompany him if he wants to bring guests onto the course.
“After all I’ve contributed to the tournament and been an ambassador for them, I can’t go and have a practice round there with my three grandchildren without having to beg a member to play with us, and there’s always some excuse,” Player told The Times.
“It’s terribly, terribly sad. "That’s why I rate the Open No 1. If it wasn’t for the players, (Augusta) would just be another golf course in Georgia.”
