LIV Golf's Sergio Garcia has fired a confident warning to the majority of The Masters field ahead of next week's tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.
As a result of Joaquin Niemann's committee invite along with two DP World Tour players, 13 LIV Golf League members will be heading to Georgia in a bid to etch their respective names into the sport's history books.
Seven of the 54-hole circuit's crop have won The Masters at least once before - Jon Rahm, Bubba Watson, Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Charl Schwartzel, Patrick Reed, and Garcia - while Cameron Smith and Brooks Koepka have been in contention come Sunday in recent years before falling agonisingly short.
With a stacked stable of players hoping to increase those numbers in 2024, Garcia shared an image of all 13 members - which also included Bryson DeChambeau, Adrian Meronk, and Tyrrell Hatton - teeing it up at both LIV Golf Miami this week and The Masters in the subsequent days along with the caption "We’re coming for that green jacket @TheMasters."
The 2017 Masters champion is not the only LIV golfer who is feeling bullish about the PIF-backed circuit's chances this year, with Koepka and Rahm also sharing their optimism in pre-LIV Miami press conferences.
We’re coming for that green jacket @TheMasters pic.twitter.com/fr4kDxcnj7April 3, 2024
Koepka said: “Obviously, chances are pretty good. There’s a lot of good players. I don’t know how many guys are in the field. Usually about 90, right? Usually about 90. So you know, probably got, what, 15 percent.
“When you start breaking all the numbers down, no amateurs, no first-time winner, I don’t know, probably goes to what, 70?
“Yeah, I like the chances. A lot of guys playing well. Joaco playing well this year, and I watched Bryson last year. And I believe, what was it, Singapore, Thailand, we played together and I started to watch what’s come for the last, I don’t know, eight months, I guess about eight months now.
"Kind of watched that progress go, so that’s been cool. I can see him starting around the corner. And then, I don’t know, started playing good till March - this is kind of my time.”
Meanwhile, current Masters champion, Rahm argued that the sheer quality of players coming over from LIV - as well as the quantity in the field - give LIV's chances of hosting a winner a helpful boost.
He said: “There is quite a few major champions in LIV and there is a few that are major-champion-quality golfers. So just pure numbers, if you go with math, wouldn’t be the highest, but I’m confident that one of us can get it done this year.”
The Masters begins on Thursday, April 11 with Golf Monthly covering all of the key events throughout the week.
