The Masters couldn’t come at a better time.
With all the politics going in professional men’s golf, specifically between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf, combined with news about changing the ball to limit distance, it’s taking away from the pure enjoyment of the sport.
That’s why next week at the Masters it will principally be about who will wear the coveted green jacket when the tournament is over, though LIV will creep into the conversation and could potentially create a subtext if any of them are challenging for the lead on Sunday.
There are 18 LIV players scheduled to compete based on previous wins in the Masters, U.S. Open, PGA Championship, Open Championship or The Players Championship.
Personally, I’d rather the tournament see PGA Tour players vying for the lead, though there is one LIV player I’m particularly interested in seeing. Cameron Smith (Titleist Pro V1x) – The Mullet Man.
Smith represented one of the PGA Tour players in their 20s who looked to be on the cusp of superstardom. In fact, his victory in 2022 Open Championship helped towards being named the 2022 PGA Player of the Year. I personally would have given it to 2022 Masters winner Scottie Scheffler (Titleist Pro V1), but I don’t have a say in that matter.
Of all the players LIV poached, Smith may have been the most important because of his ascension in 2022. Scheffler also made a progressive leap, which gave the PGA two bright lights for the future. But at the end of the day, Smith chose to take the offer presented by LIV, reportedly worth $100 million. He could play his entire life and never make that kind of money strictly from playing. He would have raked in quite a bit of money from sponsors, but even so the guaranteed money was simply too good to pass up.
As Dustin Johnson said in the Netflix documentary Full Swing, if someone offered you the job you were doing without putting in as many hours and getting paid more, the decision is pretty simple. At least it was for him. Look, at the end of the day money talks, and it certainly did factor into the decisions by the various golfers who chose to go to LIV. For some of them, their best-before shelf life had expired.
Losing a star such as Smith had to hurt the PGA Tour. Besides his talent, he also had flair with his mullet and just the way he carried himself. He was easy to like.
What will be really interesting is how these LIV players, with only a limited playing schedule so far, will fare in the Masters against the active PGA Tour players. Last week was a great example of the rising stars on the PGA Tour with Sam Burns (Callaway Chrome Soft X) beating Cameron Young (Titleist Pro V1x) in the final of the WGC Dell Technologies Match Play. Rory McIlroy (TaylorMade TP5x) beating Scheffler for third provided perhaps a glimpse into the Masters. McIlroy was finally able to put aside all he had done politically for the merits of the PGA Tour and had more time to devote to the game.
The Masters is the only major missing from McIlroy completing his personal career grand slam. His incredible finish in the 2022 Masters, carding an eight-under 64, including holing out from the bunker on the 18th hole, was spectacular. The shot has to rate as one of the best-ever in a major.
Maybe, just maybe, Rory will win, which would be a huge victory for himself and the PGA Tour. That was certainly the case when he won 2022 Tour Championship.
Whatever happens, it will be great just to see Augusta National in all its glory.
