Marc Leishman won’t be among the 18 LIV golfers headed to Augusta next week for what looms as one of the sport’s most confronting weeks, ending a run of 30-straight major appearances.
But having made the road back to the biggest tournaments harder for himself, or near impossible really, the six-time PGA Tour winner isn’t kicking cans.
Leishman famously gave a fist pump on the 18th green at Augusta when fellow Australian Adam Scott sank a putt to put himself in a playoff at the 2013 Masters, which he famously won.
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He finished fourth that year and the Masters has provided Leishman other fond memories too, with three top-10 finishes in his 10 career starts, playing the opening two rounds with Tiger Woods in 2018 high on the list.
The door to the majors remains open for LIV players, for now, although Masters officials are expected next week to announced tighter criteria that could mean only former champions now with LIV, of which there are six, get back there in 2024.
But Leishman, 39, and having dropped out of the world’s top 100 for the first time in a decade as a result of his move to LIV, is OK with missing the Masters, one of the few negatives outweighed by positives despite the angst Greg Norman’s rebel tour has created in golf.
One of LIV’s former players, Australian Travis Smyth, qualified for the British Open last week via the Asian Tour. Leishman could use events like that, or the Australian Open, to try to earn his way back.
But doing those hard yards, and having to watch the Masters from home for the first time since 2015, isn’t enough to dampen his enthusiasm for his new home.
“There’s obviously positives and negatives to every decision,” Leishman said in Orlando ahead of the third $30m LIV event of the year, coming a week before the Masters that remains the talk of the course.
“Clearly the money was part of the decision. But obviously missing the majors was a tough one and one of the negatives
“But it was all the positives, like spending more time with family, getting home to Australia more, and there’s still a chance to qualify for the majors and I’m certainly going to try and do that.”
Despite the guaranteed money with LIV, including his sign-on contract (reportedly worth up to $A30m) and cash every tournament with no cut and bonuses for team finishes, Leishman is adamant the fire still burns enough to get back to the majors too.
Leishman blew a last-round lead at LIV’s most recent event in Tucson, and feels, after a pre-season swing change, his best is pretty close.
“You don‘t want to come out here and finish last every week,” he said.
“Even though you do still get paid, we’re all competitive and we want to win golf tournaments wherever it is, whether it’s an Australian Open or the Masters or a LIV event.
“We want to win and we do that practice so when we get into that pressure situation, hopefully you can perform under the pressure. It’s still it’s no different. It’s competitive, that hasn’t changed at all.”
