A new spin for the tradition-bound masters: the LIV wave era

AUGUSTA, Georgia — The mystery began in earnest last spring and lasted until fall dusk. But Phil Mickelson – one of the most famous frontmen of LIV Golf, the league funded by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund – insists he thought he would be allowed to play in the 2023 Masters Tournament, which kicks off on Thursday.

Never mind any discomfort, or how rivalry on the course had turned into long-distance rage tinged with politics, power, pride and money. No, Mickelson reasoned, tradition would prevail at Augusta National Golf Club, certainly among the safest bets in the sport.

“The history of this tournament, the history of the majors, is about bringing the best players together, and it really has to rise above any kind of disruption to the golf ecosystem,” Mickelson, a three-time Masters winner, said in a previous interview. . month.

“I wasn’t really worried,” said Mickelson, who spent the 2022 Masters in a self-imposed sporting exile after effectively downplaying human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia. But, he admitted, “there was talk” of being banned from one of golf’s most respected events.

Augusta National extinguished the conversation on Dec. 20: If a golfer qualified for the Masters through one of his known avenues, such as a former champion, his 2023 invitation would be by mail.

The club’s choice will see the ground through at least until Sunday, when the tournament is scheduled to end, weather permitting. All the usual stories surrounding a major tournament bubble up: Will Scottie Scheffler be the first repeat winner in over two decades? Would Rory McIlroy finally complete the Grand Slam career? Can Jon Rahm regain his dominant winter form? And, as always, what will Tiger Woods do?

But there is also an undercurrent of ambition, curiosity and discord cloaked in goodness.

For LIV, the match will be a breakthrough if one of the players puts on the winner’s green jacket. For the PGA Tour, the Masters is a chance to show that the 72-hole approach to an old game is still king. And for Augusta National, the tournament is an opportunity to portray itself as skeptical of golf’s chaotic struggles.

“At the Champions Dinner, I hadn’t known anything was going on in the professional golf world other than the norm,” Augusta National president Fred S. Ridley said Wednesday, the day after the traditional gathering of former Masters winners. .

He added: “So I think, and I’m hopeful, maybe this week can get people thinking in a different direction and things will change.”

It was almost certain that this week would not turn into open fighting, and it did not. Some players have complained about a news media hyperfocus on potential tensions – acknowledging that they, too, had been wondering about the mood and rethinking the stakes for their tours.

Cameron Smith, the number 6 highest ranked LIV player, said PGA Tour players had greeted him with hugs and handshakes. When asked what exactly he expected, he replied: “I wasn’t really sure, to be honest.”

He seemed more confident that LIV could use a strong showing on the leaderboards around Augusta National’s hallowed stage.

“I think it’s just important for LIV guys to be up there because I think we have to be up there,” he said. “I think there’s a lot of chatter going on about these guys not playing real golf; these guys don’t play real golf courses. I will certainly be the first to say that the fields are not that strong. I’ll be the first to say that, but we still have a lot of guys who can play some serious golf.

McIlroy, seemingly approaching sainthood in the eyes of PGA Tour executives because of his steadfast defense of their circuit, said the Masters was “much bigger” than golf’s great squabble and that he relished the chance to to compete against 18 LIV players who are among the world’s best. best golfers. Being around them again, he suggested, could build rapport, though he recognized that restored closeness was no guarantee of eternal harmony.

“It’s a very nuanced situation and there’s a different dynamic,” McIlroy said. Referring to Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson, the LIV stars and big winners, he added, “You know, it’s fine to hang out with Brooks and DJ and maybe not hang out with some of the other guys who go to LIV gone, right?”

For its part, Augusta National, whose private membership is believed to include at least two former secretaries of state, has sought to curb the theater.

Groupings for Thursday and Friday are about the most anonymous possible, at least in the PGA Tour vs. LIV context. Woods and Bryson DeChambeau, who recently suggested Woods almost excommunicated him, will not be having a reunion at the first tee. Fred Couples, a PGA Tour loyalist who called LIV’s Sergio Garcia a “clown” and Mickelson an “asshole”, will play alongside Russell Henley and Alex Noren. McIlroy is grouped with Sam Burns and Tom Kim.

And Ridley said Augusta National had not invited Greg Norman, the LIV commissioner, to the club, where the PGA Tour and DP World Tour leaders have sat in court for the past few days.

“The main issue and the driver there is that I want to focus on the Masters competition this week,” said Ridley. He said he believed Norman had attended the tournament twice in the past ten years, once as a radio commentator.

Ridley also ignored a question about whether Augusta National had become complicit in the “sport washing” of Saudi Arabia’s image.

“I certainly have a general understanding of the term,” Ridley said. “I think, you know, it’s for others to decide what exactly that means. These were personal decisions by these players, which I don’t necessarily agree with at a high level, you know.”

With the tournaments starting on Thursday morning, the emphasis of the week is quickly shifting to the competition itself. It seems unlikely that the US television channels of the event will dwell on off-course topics unless they have to.

“We’re not going to bury our heads in the sand,” said Sean McManus, president of CBS Sports, which will broadcast the third and fourth rounds Saturday and Sunday. “Having said that, unless it really impacts the story that plays out on the golf course, we’re not going to do our best to cover it, and I’m not sure we can add anything to the story. ”

ESPN, which will broadcast the first two rounds of the tournament, has suggested it is even less interested in golf’s geopolitical soap opera. Curtis Strange, the two-time US Open champion turned commentator, said he “didn’t see us mentioning the Roman numerals at all.”

“We have to show respect for the Masters Tournament,” he said. “The only way I could ever see anything coming – not even about LIV – but some of these players haven’t played much competitive golf. So how sharp can they be?”

LIV golfers have said they will be prepared for the rigors of the Masters, even as they play 54-hole events instead of 72, on courses that some doubt will be ready for the challenges of Augusta.

That dynamic will make this year’s tournament more of a proving ground than usual. But there’s always next year: When Augusta National announced its 2024 Masters entry criteria on Wednesday, there were no changes that immediately threatened LIV players.

Mickelson’s bet still proved safe.