The PGA Tour and the Liv golf are back together.
Well, at least briefly.
A dozen members of The circuit supported by Saudi On the field this week at the Masters, which will only mark one of the four events this season when the two tours are again integrated. The tour and the public investment fund, which supports Golf Liv, are still in negotiations on their proposed merger. However, it is still clear when it is finalized, because it has been almost two complete years since the surprise announcement. Nevertheless negotiations do not seem that they occur nowhere.
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“I think we would all like to see this,” said Jon Rahm on Tuesday when he asked the world of golf that will come back together. “But as far as I know and you can say, it does not happen anytime soon.”
It is the least golfers that Liv has had in the masters since its creation, and more than half of them have exemptions for life due to victories spent in Augusta National. A golfer, Joaquin Niemann, received a special exemption to win a place in the field.
There are 20 different ways to gain a place in the fields of masters, starting by winning the event. This earns a lifetime exemption in the tournament, while the victories to the other three majors earn the entrance for the next five years. A victory in the players championship gives a three -year exemption. If you finish in the top 12 masters, you are automatically invited to come back the following year. A top four of one of the other major championships also guarantees an invitation. Any PGA Tour victory during a calendar year and those in the top 50 in the official world classification of golf are also invited. Liv Golf still does not win OWGR points, which makes members to earn major points.
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Although this is a unique moment for sport with everyone together, it will only happen three times this year.
“Whenever I have the opportunity to play against everyone, the best players in the world, it's great. I think that is what we all hope for at some point is that it is understood,” said Bryson Dechambeau. “It exceeds me and beyond my reach, unfortunately.
“I think that at some point, if the players come together, I think we could understand it. But it is much more complicated, obviously, than what we all think. I hope that day, it will be understood and we can get there.”
Here is an overview of the 12 golf members in competition for a green jacket this week in Georgia.
Jon Rahm is one of the seven former masters' winners on the ground this week who has since joined Liv Golf. (Images Richard Heathcote / Getty)
(Richard Heathcote via Getty Images)
Liv Golf at The Masters: former winners
Jon Rahm
Best finish: 1 (2023)
Status: lifetime exemption
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Jon Rahm was perhaps the best golfer to join the LIV circuit, and he is shown at the Masters. He won in 2023 and he did not miss a single cup there. Last season, however, was his worst outing with a T45 race.
Patrick Reed
Best finish: 1 (2018)
Status: lifetime exemption
Patrick Reed won his title of Masters before taking the leap to LIV golf, but he has been in the running in almost every year since. He did not finish worse than the T35, did each cut and finished T4 in 2023. He missed only one major cup since he also joined the golf of Liv.
Dustin Johnson
Best finish: 1 (2020)
Status: lifetime exemption
Dustin Johnson is on a constant drop since his control victory, which came to the COVVI-19 version reprogrammed in 2020. He also missed the Cup last year, and did not finish better than T31 in any of his main appearances.
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Phil Mickelson
Best finish: 1 (2004, 2006, 2010)
Status: lifetime exemption
Phil Mickelson is the only member of LIV golf to have won a green jacket three times, but that has been 15 years since he succeeded in this feat for the last time. The 54 -year -old man, however, has had a hard time in the major championships in recent years. He missed the cup in eight of his last 12 major departures, especially during his last four open American points. But its two aberrant values in the past four years have been incredible. He won the PGA championship in 2021, which was his first major victory in almost a decade, and he finished T2 at the Masters in 2023.
Although it takes a remarkable week, Mickelson knows how to play Augusta National.
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Bubba Watson
Best finish: 1 (2012, 2014)
Status: lifetime exemption
Like Mickelson, Bubba Watson is the only other Liv golf member to have won the masters several times. But his last victory took place over ten years ago, he missed the cup in each of the last two years and he has not finished better than T39 since he made the leap to Liv Golf. The Masters has also been the only major in which he has played since the 2022 campaign.
Sergio Garcia
Best finish: 1 (2017)
Status: lifetime exemption
Sergio Garcia finally won his first victory in the major championship with his playoff victory at Augusta National in 2017. He had trouble maintaining his eligibility in the other three events since then, however, and he missed the Masters cup in five of his last six departures.
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Charl Schwartzel
Best finish: 1 (2011)
Status: lifetime exemption
The Masters is one of the two victories of the PGA Tour that Charl Schwartzel has his name, although he came almost 15 years ago. He missed the cup in three of his last six departures in Augusta, although there is a T10 finish in there.
Bryson Dechambeau is one of the 12 members of the Liv golf on the field this week. (Thananuwat Srirasing / Getty Images)
(Thananuwat srirasing via Getty Images)
Golf liv to the master: other entrances
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU
Best finish: T6 (2024)
Status: until 2029 (US Open Win, 2024)
Bryson Dechambeau is apparently in the best position to win a major this season among the Golf Liv group. He won the US Open last year, finished second at the PGA championship and went T6 to Augusta National, which was his best smuggling masters. He came after the consecutive consecutive cuts in the event, however, we will therefore see quickly if last year's performance was only an aberrant value.
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Koepka Brooks
Best finish: T2 (2019, 2023)
Status: until 2028 (victory of the PGA championship, 2023)
After a prevailing major race before Liv Golf, Brooks Koepka slowed down. He finished in the top 20 of one of them last season, but he went T2 to the Masters in 2023 and won the PGA championship a month later. It was his second finalist at the Masters in the past five years.
Tyrrell Hatton
Best finish: T9 (2024)
Status: until 2025 (T9 finish at Masters, 2024)
Tyrrell Hatton missed the Cup once in his last 12 major departures, and he has just ended the best masters of his career last season. He won nine international victories during his career, including one on the PGA Tour, and he won last year on Liv Golf in Nashville shortly after joining.
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Joaquin Niemann
Best finish: T16 (2023)
Status: until 2025 (special exemption)
Joaquin Niemann won only two PGA Tour victories during his career, and he is only during this week on a special exemption. He won twice over Liv Golf last year and he won the Saudi international international Pif in December, however, he still plays a big golf course despite his lack of points or standing. He finished T22 last year at the Masters. Mickelson recently insinuated that Niemann is also the n ° 1 player in the world.
Cameron Smith
Best finish: T2 (2020)
Status: until 2027 (British Open Win, 2022)
Cameron Smith was great at the Masters, even if he has not yet won a green jacket. He has four TOP-10 in his last six departures, including a finalist in 2021 and a T6 last year. Although he has only one major victory in his career, he feels because of the breakthrough soon.