The year’s first major has arrived with round one of the US Masters at Augusta National kicking off on Thursday (10pm AEST) with 18 LIV Golf members in the field.
Led by Australia’s Cameron Smith, the defectors were reunited with their former PGA Tour colleagues this week — but fireworks are yet to fly with golf war tensions simmering down.
With competition finally starting, many will be interested to see if the jovial atmosphere lasts, especially if any LIV member starts to seriously contend for the green jacket.
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Former winners Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tom Watson, drove off the first tee as honorary starters in the traditional ceremonial launch to the year’s first major tournament.
Conditions were warm with temperatures expected to reach 87 degrees F, overcast but dry although rain is forecast for later in the week and could impact the schedule.
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Canada’s Mike Weir, the 2003 Masters champion, was the first player in the field to get under way, playing in the opening pair with American Kevin Na.
Na is one of 18 players in the field from the new Saudi-backed LIV Golf League, which is locked in bitter legal battles with the established PGA Tour.
Members from both parties have downplayed the rivalry all week — even notorious pot-stirrer Phil Mickelson reportedly kept tight-lipped at the Champions Dinner on Tuesday.
But the tension still remains under the surface.
“There is a big rivalry right now between the Tour and LIV,” said Chilean recruit Joaquin Niemann. “I think there is a lot of players that — I don’t know if they don’t like us or don’t like the decisions (made by LIV golfers) — but it’s going to be fun.
“I think it’s going to be more fun knowing that they hate us, then go to the majors and beat them.”
Smith himself flagged the importance of LIV players doing well in a bid to silence the breakaway circuit’s many doubters.
“It’s just important for LIV guys to be up there because I think we need to be up there,” Smith said.
“There’s a lot of chatter about (how) ‘these guys don’t play real golf; these guys don’t play real golf courses’.
“We’ve still got a lot of guys up there that can play some really serious golf, and we compete against each other hard week in and week out and we’re trying to do the same things that we did six months ago.”
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Nonetheless, Australia’s best hope, Smith, has been warned away from buying into any chat around the rivalry, with former English pro Nick Dougherty concerned that he’s already bought a lie on social media.
“Why would you want to pull yourself into it?” he said on Sky Sports.
“And so much of the stuff, like the one he used in his quote ‘these guys don’t play proper golf courses’ — tour pros aren’t saying that, tournaments aren’t saying that, the tours aren’t saying that. That’s social media.
“And if we live our lives by what we see on social media, you’re in big trouble.”
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Meanwhile, Scottie Scheffler will launch his bid to become just the fourth golfer to win back-to-back Masters on Thursday when the 87th edition of the tournament gets under way.
The American world number one is the bookmaker’s favourite to slip into the famous green jacket when the four rounds are complete on Sunday evening.
Scheffler may not have the charisma and star quality of Tiger Woods, but his consistency over the past 14 months, which has seen him win six PGA Tour titles, makes him the man to beat.
The 26-year-old won the Players Championship in March and he warmed-up for the Masters with a hole-in-one during the traditional par-three contest on Wednesday.
Only Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo and Woods have achieved successive victories in the Masters and Scheffler is trying not to think too much about a rare repeat.
“Everybody starts even par. Just because you’re defending doesn’t mean you get to start at 1-under,” he said. “I’ll be approaching it just like I do a lot of other tournaments.”
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– Rory chases career Slam –
Last year’s runner-up, Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy, is hoping to finally complete his career Grand Slam with a long-awaited Masters triumph.
“I don’t need to do anything differently this week. I go out and play the way that I know that I can, get myself in with a chance to win,” said the world number two.
“Then those last couple hours on Sunday… it’s about who can hold it together the best.” McIlroy has been a leading supporter of the PGA Tour, for whom a nightmare scenario would be the sight of a LIV rebel celebrating in the green jacket — not an entirely fanciful notion.
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Expect huge crowds of spectators and dramatic roars from their cheers as Woods begins what could be among his final rounds at the Masters.
The 15-time major champion and five-time Masters champion will draw huge galleries at Augusta National, especially after saying Tuesday that he wasn’t sure how much longer he will able to compete after severe leg injuries in a 2021 car crash.
“I don’t know how many more I have in me,” Woods said, admitting it crosses his mind sometimes that he might not play in many more Masters.“So much of my life has been here at Augusta National,” he said. “Just so excited to be back here again and compete.”
World number seven Xander Schauffele knows the crowds that follow Woods can make it tough on his playing partners, especially with them almost willing their hero along every painful stride of Augusta National.
“It can definitely be distracting with a lot of people moving around,” Schauffele said. “If he taps in before you and if you have a six-footer for par, there’s going to be some movement and people shuffling around to get in position to watch his next tee shot.”
FRIDAY TEE TIMES (ALL TIMES AEST, AUSSIES IN BOLD)
9:40pm (Thursday night) Gary Player (Honorary Starter), Jack Nicklaus (Honorary Starter), Tom Watson (Honorary Starter)
10pm Mike Weir, Kevin Na
10:12pm — Vijay Singh, Scott Stallings, Matthew McClean
10:24pm — Sandy Lyle, Jason Kokrak, Talor Gooch
10:36pm — Fred Couples, Russell Henley, Alex Noren
10:48pm. — Adrian Meronk, Kevin Kisner, Louis Oosthuizen
11pm — Larry Mize, Min Woo Lee, Harrison Crowe
11:12pm– Sergio Garcia, Kazuki Higa, Keith Mitchell
11:24pm– Patrick Reed, Adam Svensson, Sahith Theegala
11:36pm — Shane Lowry, Mackenzie Hughes, Thomas Pieters
11:48pm — Bubba Watson, Seamus Power, Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira
12:06am (Friday morning) — Abraham Ancer, Chris Kirk, Keegan Bradley
12:18am — Tiger Woods, Viktor Hovland, Xander Schauffele
12:30am — Adam Scott, Patrick Cantlay, Kurt Kitayama
12:42am — Justin Thomas, Jon Rahm, Cameron Young
12:54am — Hideki Matsuyama, Cameron Smith, Sungjae Im
1:06am — Jose Maria Olazabal, Cameron Champ
1:18am — Charl Schwartzel, Taylor Moore, Aldrich Potgieter
1:30am — J.T. Poston, Francesco Molinari, Bryson DeChambeau
1:42am — Bernhard Langer, Mito Pereira, Ben Carr
1:54am — Danny Willett, Gary Woodland, Brooks Koepka
2:12am — Sepp Straka, Harold Varner III, K.H. Lee
2:24am — Phil Mickelson, Tom Hoge, Si Woo Kim
2:36am — Billy Horschel, Harris English, Ryan Fox
2:48am — Zach Johnson, Jason Day, Gordon Sargent
3am — Brian Harman, Joaquin Niemann, Tyrrell Hatton
3:12am– Dustin Johnson, Corey Conners, Justin Rose
3:24am– Matt Fitzpatrick, Collin Morikawa, Will Zalatoris
3:36am — Scottie Scheffler, Max Homa, Sam Bennett
3:48am — Tom Kim, Rory McIlroy, Sam Burns
4am — Jordan Spieth, Tommy Fleetwood, Tony Finau
