Jon Rahm might've won The Masters, but the LIV Golf League golfers dealt a major blow in the ongoing PGA-LIV turf war. Despite the speculation and jokes that the low-stress environment of the LIV Golf League would leave its members ill-equipped to handle the rigors of The Masters, 12 of LIV's 18 participants made the cut. Most notably, Brooks Koepka and Phil Mickelson, the two highest profile members of the breakaway tour, finished tied for second at eight-under while Patrick Reed (the 2018 Masters champ) finished tied for fourth at seven-under. The strong performances from some of LIV's biggest names served as vindication for the embattled tour.

“We're still the same people,” said Brooks Koepka, who had previously missed the cut in 2021 and 2022 while recovering from a major right knee injury. “So I mean, I know if I'm healthy, I know I can compete. I don't think any of the guys that played this event thought otherwise, either. When Phil plays good, we know he's going to compete. Reed, the same thing. I think that's just manufactured by the media that we can't compete anymore; that we are washed up.”

Backed by the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, LIV has upended the golf world since its debut last June and its golfers have become pariahs within the PGA ranks. Due to LIV's 54 hole format, shotgun starts and no-cut events, its critics have dismissed it as gimmick golf, offering fundamentally lower-quality competition than the PGA. Ironically,  Koepka led the field by multiple strokes through the first three rounds, before crumbling down the stretch with a +3 final round.

As such, Harold Varner, a LIV member who finished 29th at The Masters, said that he and his fellow LIVers had a chip on their shoulder entering the tournament since “everyone thinks we suck now.”

“I guess they don't suck,” Varner said Sunday. “I suck, though. Not today. Yeah, I think it's good for golf. Don't think about any tours, just play golf and see how they stack up.”

The next LIV Golf tournament will be held April 21-23 in Adelaide, Australia, the first of 12 events in the tour's 2023 season.