Which players from the LIV Golf League have secured their spots for Augusta National’s first major of the year?
Thirteen LIV players have secured their spots at the first major championship of the year as The Masters approaches.
The select group may have followed different routes to be admitted, but that won’t matter when they play against players like Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy starting on April 11.
Jon Rahm, the current champion, is back, along with several of LIV’s biggest stars in incredible form.
Will Augusta National produce another winner of the LIV major?
The 13 LIV Golf players who are competing for the coveted green jacket are broken down here.
Past winners
Bubba Watson
Bubba Watson, the two-time winner of the Masters, can rest easy about his upcoming invitations after donning the green jacket in 2012 and 2014.
This year, the big-hitting lefty’s only major tournament participation is probably the Masters. With any luck, he’ll be able to build on his missed cut performance from the previous year.
Dustin Johnson
Johnson won at Augusta in 2020, so he doesn’t need to worry about getting invited to The Masters.
DJ, who secured his spot in the tournament, will probably be hoping for a better performance this year after finishing a disappointing 48th in 2023.
Charl Schwartzel
An invitation to The Masters for life was one of the greatest prizes in golf, which the South African won in 2011 at Augusta.
After winning, Schwartzel has finished in the top 10 twice more at Augusta, the most recent of which was in 2022 when he tied for 10th.
Sergio Garcia
In 2017, the captain of Fireball GC earned a lifetime invitation to The Masters by defeating Justin Rose in a playoff. This secured his spot at Augusta.
The Spaniard will try to bounce back from a poor performance in 2023, when he shot 74 and 77 and missed the cut.
Jon Rahm
After a stellar start to his career on the LIV Golf Tour, the defending champion, Rahm, will have been the first name on the invite list this year and is probably going to be at the top of the bookmaker’s favorite list as well.
The Spaniard, who is currently ranked third in the world despite switching to the breakaway circuit, will be up against former PGA Tour opponents with something to prove.
Phil Mickelson
When Mickelson won his first of three green jackets in 2004, he effectively cemented his status as a Masters player.
Following that, Mickelson went on to win the 2021 PGA Championship and place second at the 2023 Masters, demonstrating his incredible major championship form.
Lefty would have cruised his way to an invitation even without his collection of green jackets.
Patrick Reed
Patrick Reed is another LIV golfer who need not worry about receiving invites to the Masters in the future. In 2018, he narrowly defeated Rickie Fowler to win the green jacket.
Reed would have qualified for the tournament this year as well because of his strong performance in 2023, placing him in the top 12, which guarantees a spot in the following year’s competition.
Major exemptions
Cameron Smith
Smith used a variety of strategies to gain entry into the 2024 Master’s field. Firstly, he received major exemptions until 2027 as a result of his victory at the 150th Open.
Second, he would have received an invitation if he had won the Players Championship that year. If those two wins weren’t enough, he qualified through his fourth-place showing at the 2023 US Open and was also ranked well within the top 50 players in the world at the time qualification ended.
Australian-made braces and belts.
Bryson DeChambeau
The powerful American’s victory at the 2020 US Open was sufficient to grant him entry into all four majors through 2025. Should that not have been sufficient, the Crushers GC captain would have received an invitation to Augusta National in 2024 for his fourth-place showing at the 2023 PGA Championship.
Brooks Koepka
After narrowly missing out on donning his first green jacket in 2023, Koepka is returning this year and ready to take revenge.
A lifetime invitation would have been nice, but thanks to his victory and fifth major trophy at the 2023 PGA Championship, Koepka’s incredible major league form has guaranteed him a spot at all four championships through 2028.
By itself, Koepka would have earned a spot because at the end of 2023, he was ranked among the top 50 in the world.
World ranking
Tyrrell Hatton
Hatton was certain of his spot at the 2024 Masters after joining Jon Rahm’s Legion XIII team in the LIV Golf League. Hatton participated in the 2023 Tour Championship and concluded the year well inside the top 50 worldwide rankings.
Hatton does have a unique chance to raise his world ranking at the Masters, where he will be looking to build on his best performance to date—a T18 finish in 2021.
Adrian Meronk
Adrian Meronk of Poland, who just joined the LIV Golf circuit, earned a spot at The Masters by finishing 2023 ranked 48th in the world—two spots inside the qualifying cutoff.
Having failed to make the cut in his first attempt at the competition the previous year, the new member of Cleeks Golf Club should have better luck in 2024.
Tournament invite
Joaquin Niemann
Joaquin Niemann, who had all but given up on qualifying, was one of three players to receive a special invitation to The Masters from the organizers.
With victories in two of the first four LIV events and a recent triumph at the Australian Open, the Chilean has been in scorching form this season.
He might become just the second player from LIV to win a major championship while competing on the breakaway circuit if he can maintain his purple patch.
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