Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Matthew Cooper

Why LIV golf rebels can play at 2023 Masters and compete for £12m prize money

Eighteen LIV golfers will be in action today at the Masters, the first major championship of the year.

This is despite players who joined the controversial Saudi-backed league getting suspended by the PGA Tour and being fined and banned by the DP World Tour.

While an appeal against the DP World Tour's decision is ongoing, although reports claim an arbitration panel has found in favour of the Tour, LIV players have been permitted to feature at the Masters by tournament organisers Augusta National.

In a statement released last year they confirmed they would not be instituting a ban, despite criticising those who made the jump for "diminishing the virtues of the game and the meaningful legacies of those who built it".

Chairman Fred Ridley said: "Although we are disappointed in these developments, our focus is to honour the tradition of bringing together a pre-eminent field of golfers this coming April.

"We have reached a seminal point in the history of our sport. At Augusta National, we have faith that golf, which has overcome many challenges through the years, will endure again."

LIV golfers Talor Gooch, Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson and Harold Varner III will be among those competing at the Masters (Andrew Redington/Getty Images)

As a result, LIV recruits Phil Mickelson, Charl Schwartzel, Bubba Watson, Sergio Garcia, Patrick Reed, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, Cameron Smith, Mito Pereira, Joaquin Niemann, Abraham Ancer, Thomas Pieters, Harold Varner III, Jason Kokrak, Kevin Na, Louis Oosthuizen and Talor Gooch will all be in action at Augusta.

They will be competing against the likes of golf legend Tiger Woods, defending champion Scottie Scheffler and world number two Rory McIlroy for a share of the $15m (£12.1m) prize money. And LIV commissioner Greg Norman has said the idea of one of his players winning the Masters gives him "goosebumps".

"If one of the guys [wins], no matter who it is, they are all going to be there on the 18th green, they are all going to be there, and that just gives me goosebumps to think about," he told NewsCorp. "They are saying no matter who wins, no matter who is in that position, we are going to be there."

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.