LIV Golf League players will be able to compete in subsequent yr’s Masters after Augusta National chairperson Fred Ridley stated on Tuesday the occasion will preserve “current criteria” for 2023 entrants.
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Without mentioning the Saudi-backed upstart collection by identify, Ridley expressed disappointment with golf’s ongoing divide attributable to LIV luring away high PGA Tour expertise with report prize cash for 54-hole occasions.
“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,” Ridley stated.
“Although we’re disenchanted in these developments, our focus is to honor the custom of bringing collectively a preeminent subject of golfers this coming April.
“Therefore, as invitations are sent this week, we will invite those eligible under our current criteria to compete in the 2023 Masters tournament.”
Six former Masters champions are amongst 10 players at present certified for subsequent yr’s first main golf showdown on the historic venue.
They embrace Phil Mickelson, a three-time Masters winner and six-time main champion who was the primary high participant to push LIV Golf ahead.
Other previous Masters winners in LIV Golf eligible to return in 2023 embrace fellow Americans Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed and Bubba Watson plus Spaniard Sergio Garcia and South African Charl Schwartzel.
World quantity three Cameron Smith of Australia, the reigning British Open champion, can be amongst different LIV players who have certified underneath the present standards.
Americans Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka qualify primarily based on main triumphs inside the previous 5 years and Chile’s Joaquin Niemann has additionally locked up a spot.
LIV players in this yr’s ultimate world golf rankings may even qualify for the Masters.
That ought to seal Augusta tee occasions for South African Louis Oosthuizen, Mexico’s Abraham Ancer and Americans Kevin Na, Jason Kokrak, Talor Gooch and Harold Varner.
Future Masters adjustments introduced subsequent April
Other LIV Golf players may qualify by reaching the highest 50 in the world golf rankings in the week earlier than subsequent yr’s Masters.
Ridley stated any future adjustments to Masters entry standards could be introduced in April on the match.
“We look at every aspect of the tournament each year, and any modifications or changes to invitation criteria for future tournaments will be announced in April,” Ridley stated.
LIV Golf expertise was allowed to compete in final yr’s US and British Opens, the primary two majors performed following the launching of the collection, which acquired criticism over its Saudi Arabian backing given the nation’s human rights points.
“We have reached a seminal point in the history of our sport,” Ridley stated.
“At Augusta National, we have faith that golf, which has overcome many challenges through the years, will endure again.”
The choice will carry the PGA-LIV break up into sharp focus at Augusta National, the place stars from the rival circuits might be paired with each other, some with laborious emotions over the divide that has fractured the game.
The PGA Tour has banned LIV Golf players from its occasions. LIV players have competed in DP World Tour and Asian Tour occasions.
LIV Golf tournaments haven’t been granted world golf rating factors, a scenario LIV is preventing however one that would see its high players slide down the world rankings and out of many qualifying standards for future Masters tournaments.
For this yr, the Masters transfer ensures the avoidance of a scenario akin to that confronted at September’s Presidents Cup, when the lack of LIV Golf defectors led the International squad to lose half a roster of elite expertise earlier than shedding to the Americans.
By Garrin Lambley © Agence France-Presse
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