“We’ll have to do what’s in the best interests of the Masters, and we’ll continue to do that.”
The British Open and The Masters announced on Thursday that there would be no exceptions for LIV golfers to enter their events, which was huge news for the golf community.
You need to be highly ranked or have previously won the tournament in order to compete in any of the four PGA majors. Even though a number of LIV golfers have either won a major or been ranked among the best players in the world, since joining LIV Golf, their rankings have either dropped or increased, and the organizers of both tournaments say they have no plans to change their rules anytime soon.
Naturally, LIV players like Bryson DeChambeau and Phil Mickelson believe the decision is unjust and ought to be changed. Even though they compete for LIV Golf, they believe that the world’s best golfers ought to be granted special consideration in these competitions.
The majors “need to protect their product,” according to Mickelson, and “they probably have other options [than OWGR points] for doing so by making slots.”
DeChambeau echoed Mickelson sentiments.
“We would love to find another way to be integrated into the major championship system,” DeChambeau, one of just six LIV golfers eligible for next year’s PGA Championship and U.S. Open, said of the OWGR’s denial, “since I think we have some of the best players in the world.”
Chairman of Augusta National Fred Ridley says although they respect the players’ rights to do what they want in their careers, but the rules are still the rules, at least for now.
“We definitely respect that they made decisions based on what they believed to be in the best interests of their golf careers,” Ridley stated. “We do reserve the right to grant special exemptions to international players, as stated in our invitation criteria; however, we did grant a special exemption to an amateur, the NCAA champion, the previous year.
We therefore constantly consider that, but since these choices have already been made, we will always have to act in the Masters’ best interests.
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