The 2023 Masters Tournament will be the first Masters since LIV Golf started its tour in June 2022. So a natural question this year is whether those golfers who defected from the PGA Tour will be allowed to play in the Masters.
Masters Leaderboard: Live leaderboard, Schedule, Tee times
Augusta National Golf Club and Masters Tournament chairman Fred Ridley answered the question in February, saying in a statement that eligible LIV players would receive invites, though he was disappointed by their decision to branch out.
“We will invite those eligible under our current criteria to compete in the 2023 Masters Tournament,” Ridley said. “Regrettably, recent actions have divided men’s professional golf by diminishing the virtues of the game and the meaningful legacies of those who built it. Although we are disappointed in these developments, our focus is to honor the tradition of bringing together a preeminent field of golfers this coming April.”
In total, 18 LIV golfers qualified for the Masters:
- Abraham Ancer
- Bryson DeChambeau
- Sergio Garcia
- Talor Gooch
- Dustin Johnson
- Brooks Koepka
- Jason Kokrak
- Phil Mickelson
- Kevin Na
- Joaquin Niemann
- Louis Oosthuizen
- Mito Peirera
- Thomas Pieters
- Patrick Reed
- Charl Schwartzel
- Cameron Smith
- Harold Varner
- Bubba Watson
