The Masters will be a little more tense in 2023 after tournament organizers at Augusta National confirmed that LIV golfers would be allowed to compete, and Jon Rahm is here for it.
“The one thing I keep going back to is that Masters Champions Dinner is going to be a little more tense compared to how it’s been in the past,” Rahm joked on Tuesday, according to Golf Magazine's Dylan Dethier.
The tournament could certainly have some awkward undertones after the fracture in the sport brought about by LIV Golf. However, tournament organizers say their ultimate focus is to bring together “a pre-eminent field of golfers,” and all players who are eligible under the current criteria will be invited.
That list will include previous champions including Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed, Sergio Garcia, Bubba Watson, Charl Schwartzel and Phil Mickelson. Other LIV golfers will qualify as a result of winning a a major in the last five years; that list includes Cameron Smith, Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka.
R&A's chief executive Martin Slumbers said last July that banning LIV players for this year's Open was “not on the agenda,” but didn't rule out changing the championship's entry criteria. That sentiment was echoed by Masters chairman Fred Ridley, who said in a statement that the entry criteria for 2023 would remain the same, with possible future changes to be announced in April.
“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 said last year.
“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. Therefore, as invitations are sent this week, we will invite those eligible under our current criteria to compete in the 2023 Masters Tournament. As we have said in the past, we look at every aspect of the Tournament each year.”
As Jon Rahm said, the Masters Champions Dinner will certainly be a little more interesting than usual this April, especially if it is won by a LIV golfer in 2023.
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