Augusta National Golf Club announced on Tuesday that it will invite the 16 players who left the PGA Tour for LIV Golf and who qualified for the Masters to compete in the 2023 tournament after all.
Despite allowing the LIV golfers to attend, Augusta National Golf Club chairman Fred Ridley still threw a dig at LIV in his statement announcing the change of heart.
“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. “Although we are disappointed in these developments, our focus is to honor the tradition of bringing together a preeminent field of golfers this coming April.
(L-R) Angel Cabrera of Argentina presents Phil Mickelson with the green jacket during the green jacket presentation after the final round of the 2010 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on April 11, 2010, in Augusta, Georgia. (David Cannon/Getty Images)
“Therefore, as invitations are sent this week, we will invite those eligible under our current criteria to compete in the 2023 Masters Tournament,” Ridley continued. “As we have said in the past, 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.”
“We have reached a seminal point in the history of our sport. At Augusta National, we have faith that golf, which has overcome many challenges through the years, will endure again,” the statement concluded.
The Masters is scheduled for Augusta, Georgia, and will be played from April 6-9.
The announcement did not say if the criteria will be changed for future tournaments to exclude the LIV players, but it does at least partially answer the question of what the Masters would do about the defecting LIV pros.
Many had accused the PGA Tour of working behind the scenes to persuade the Masters to exclude LIV players.
Six past Masters champs had left the PGA Tour to join LIV Golf, including Bubba Watson, Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia, Patrick Reed, and Charl Schwartzel.
Several other LIV players also qualify for the Masters under the current rules, including Cameron Smith, Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Joaquin Niemann, Talor Gooch, Abraham Ancer, Harold Varner III, Jason Kokrak, Kevin Na, and Louis Oosthuizen, according to ESPN.
Several LIV players had filed a federal antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour on Aug. 3, alleging that Masters chief Ridley “personally instructed” players not to defect to LIV or face being disinvited from the Masters.
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