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As the PGA Tour and LIV Golf continue to discuss a merger, players from both sides will be in the same place at the same time for the first time this year as the 2024 edition of The Masters is set to kick off on Thursday, April 11.
A year ago, 18 LIV Golf players teed it up at Augusta National, three of whom finished in the top six on the leaderboard. Brooks Koepka, who held the 54-hole lead, and three-time winner Phil Mickelson, who fired a final-round 65, tied for second, while 2018 champ Patrick Reed was part of a three-way tie for fourth.
The winner, of course, was Jon Rahm, who was then still a member of the PGA Tour but switched sides this past December 7.
Rahm will be one of 13 LIV Golf players in the field at the 2024 Masters. Why the lower number than last year? That would be because the Saudi-backed series doesn’t receive any Official World Golf Ranking points, making it much more challenging to qualify if you’re not already exempt.
That’s why Talor Gooch, Abraham Ancer, Louis Oosthuizen, Harold Varner III, and Dean Burmester—the last of whom just won the LIV Golf Miami event on April 7—aren’t in the field at Augusta this week.
As for those who are, here’s the complete list:
- Bryson DeChambeau
- Sergio Garcia
- Tyrrell Hatton
- Dustin Johnson
- Brooks Koepka
- Adrian Meronk
- Phil Mickelson
- Joaquin Niemann
- Jon Rahm
- Patrick Reed
- Charl Schwartzel
- Cameron Smith
- Bubba Watson
Let’s have a closer look at how each of these 13 got here and how they’ve fared at The Masters in the past.
Bryson DeChambeau
Despite not being a past champion and being the 210th-ranked player in the world, Bryson DeChambeau is in the 2024 Masters field due to his victory at the 2020 U.S. Open, which earned him exemptions in all four major championships for five years.
In six appearances at Augusta as a professional, DeChambeau hasn’t finished higher than a tie for 29th in 2019 and missed the cut the last two years. His best finish was in his debut in 2016 when he tied for 21st to take low amateur honors.
Sergio Garcia
Sergio Garcia, currently ranked 664th in the OWGR, is allowed in the field as a past champion, having won his first and only major in 2017.
This year marks the 25th Masters appearance for the 44-year-old, who’s only made the cut once since his victory seven years ago, tying for 23rd in 2022. In his previous 24 appearances, Garcia has recorded four top-10 finishes.
Tyrrell Hatton
Tyrrell Hatton, who made the jump to LIV Golf after appearing in a pair of PGA Tour events to start the 2024 season, makes his way to Augusta as the 19th-ranked player in the world. Given his OWGR status and the fact that he made the 2023 Tour Championship, the Englishman earned his invite.
Hatton has appeared in seven previous Masters, his best finish being a tie for 18th in 2021. He’s made the cut in each of his last three starts.
Dustin Johnson
Despite being one of the best players in LIV Golf over the last two years, notching three victories, former world No. 1 Dustin Johnson has fallen to 336th in the world rankings.
But thanks to his record-setting Masters victory in 2020, when he shot 20-under, DJ is back at Augusta for a 14th time. In his previous 13 starts, Johnson has recorded five top-10 finishes. The 24-time PGA Tour winner tied for 48th in 2023.
Brooks Koepka
One of the few LIV Golf players still ranked among the top 50 in the OWGR, 33rd-ranked Brooks Koepka would have been in the field regardless of his ranking due to his 2019 PGA Championship victory and the fact that he finished in the top 12 a year ago.
In eight starts at The Masters, Koepka has recorded three top-seven finishes, all of which have come in his last five appearances. He tied for second behind Tiger Woods in 2019, tied for seventh in 2020, missed the cut in 2021 and 2022, and, as mentioned, tied for second last year.
Adrian Meronk
The first Polish golfer to ever win on the DP World Tour, Adrian Meronk earned an invitation into the 2024 Masters field due to being in the top 50 in the OWGR at the end of 2023.
Now the 57th-ranked player in the world, Meronk is making just his second appearance at Augusta. The 30-year-old, who many thought would make the European Ryder Cup team but was controversially left out, missed the cut a year ago.
Phil Mickelson
Simply put, Phil Mickelson hasn’t played great since joining LIV Golf, recording just three top-10 finishes. Nevertheless, as a past Masters champion—a three-time champion (2004, 2006, 2010), that is—Lefty is set to make his 31st appearance at Augusta.
In the previous 30, Mickelson has recorded 16 top-10 finishes, 10 of which were inside the top three, including last year’s runner-up.
Joaquin Niemann
Once the top-ranked amateur in the world, Joaquin Niemann has been one of the hottest players on the planet in recent months.
Not only has he won two of the first five LIV Golf events this season, but the 25-year-old Chilean also won the Australian Open on the DP World Tour to close his 2023 season. He also tied for fourth at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic and took solo third at the International Series Oman on the Asian Tour.
While he didn’t fit any of the qualifying criteria, Niemann received a special invitation and is ready for his fifth Masters appearance. After failing to finish higher than 35th in his first three starts, he tied for 16th in 2023.
Jon Rahm
Despite defecting to LIV Golf more than four months ago, Jon Rahm is still the third-ranked player in the OWGR, trailing only Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy.
A year ago, Rahm trailed Koepka by two strokes heading into the last 18 holes at Augusta but ultimately won by four after firing a final-round 69, thus capturing his second major championship.
2024 marks Rahm’s eighth Masters appearance. In the previous seven, including last year’s victory, he’s finished ninth or better on five occasions.
Patrick Reed
Once the sixth-ranked player in the world, Patrick Reed is in the 2024 Masters field, thanks to his aforementioned win at Augusta in 2018.
In his four appearances before his victory, Reed recorded two missed cuts, a tie for 22nd, and a tie for 49th. Overall, his five starts since the win have gone much better. While he tied for 36th in 2019 and tied for 35th in 2022, the nine-time PGA Tour winner tied for 10th in 2020, tied for eighth in 2021, and tied for fourth in 2023.
Charl Schwartzel
In 2011, Charl Schwartzel became the first player in Masters history to birdie the final four holes en route to victory, which is why he’s in the field this week.
Since then, however, the South African hasn’t had a great deal of success at Augusta National. Outside of a pair of top-10s (solo third in 2013, T-10 in 2022), Schwartzel hasn’t finished higher than 25th, finished 38th or worse three times, including a pair of T-50 finishes (2012, 2023), and missed the cut on four occasions.
Cameron Smith
Cameron Smith, who withdrew from the LIV Golf Miami event with a bout of food poisoning, will tee it up at the 2024 Masters and is in the field due to his victory at the 2022 Open Championship at St. Andrews. The Australian also would’ve gotten in thanks to his top-four finish at the 2023 U.S. Open and his standing in the OWGR at the end of 2023.
Smith has a strong history at Augusta, posting four top-10 finishes in seven starts, three of which have come in the past four years.
Bubba Watson
Once as high as No. 2 in the OWGR, Bubba Watson enters the 2024 Masters as the 2,125th-ranked player in the world. But as a two-time champion (2012, 2014), he’s in.
This year will mark Watson’s 16th start at Augusta, and he’s only missed the cut twice in his previous 15, one of which came a year ago. Outside of his two victories, his only other top-10 finish was in 2018, when he tied for fifth.
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