The battle over the new LIV Golf Tour won’t keep some of the world’s top golfers away from Augusta National.
The golf world had questioned whether golfers who had left the PGA for the Saudi-backed tour would be allowed to play in the Masters Tournament. But last week, Augusta National Golf Club chairman, Fred Ridley announced that 16 members of the tour will receive invitations to play in the 2023 Masters, April 6-9.
Those 16 include six past Masters champions: Bubba Watson, Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia, Patrick Reed, and Charl Schwartzel. The others are Bryson DeChambeau, Cameron Smith, Brooks Koepka, Joaquin Niemann, Talor Gooch, Abraham Ancer, Harold Varner III, Jason Kokrak, Kevin Na and Louis Oosthuizen.
Controversy has surrounded the LIV Tour since last summer when some of the world’s best golfers joined it. As reported by ABD in this previous story, the tour, with Greg Norman serving as CEO, offers far more prize money than PGA events and has created a unique 54-hole team-play format. After a number of pro golfers defected to the new league, the PGA announced that it would not allow them to play in PGA events. But three of the four Majors – the Masters, U.S. Open, and British Open – are not under PGA control.
Augusta National, though, has been part of the controversy. An antitrust lawsuit filed by some of the players on the LIV Tour (reported in ABD here) alleges that Ridley and Augusta National had colluded with the PGA to pressure the players to not join the tour.
The lawsuit seeks a jury trial to determine whether the PGA Tour’s actions violate the United States antitrust laws and to keep the PGA from banning players who compete for LIV.
