Chairman says LIV golfers could receive future Masters invitations

AUGUSTA, Ga. — As professional golf continues its attempts to resolve how LIV Golf can coexist with the older established competitive bodies, Masters chairman Fred Ridley cracked open the door to including some LIV players who may not qualify for the tournament under current criteria.

With television ratings down and public’s tolerance of the years-long LIV-PGA Tour feud flagging, maintaining the strongest fields is an ongoing challenge for most tournaments both here and internationally. Ridley said Wednesday the Masters would be open to expanding its special invitation policy, heretofore issued to international players, to include any player deserving, including Americans.

“I will say that if we felt that there were a player or players, whether they played on the LIV Tour or any other tour, who were deserving of an invitation to the Masters, that we would exercise that discretion with regard to special invitations,” Ridley said Wednesday.

This year’s field includes one LIV player, Joaquin Niemann, invited by special invitation. Twelve other LIV players, including defending champion Jon Rahm and 2020 champion Dustin Johnson, are here via one or more of the Masters’ 20 rules for qualification.

LIV players are not eligible for two of the widest berths for Masters inclusion: making the top 50 on the Official World Golf Rankings or winning a PGA Tour event since the last Masters. Those LIV players not here but who played in past Masters include Louis Oosthuizen, who has played here 15 times and was the 2012 runner-up, Paul Casey, who has five top-10 finishes in 15 Masters starts, and Talor Gooch, a three-time LIV champion last year.

“In our case, we are an invitational,” Ridley said, “and we can adjust as necessary.”

LIV’s bid to be included in the OWGR listings is an ongoing dispute. The OWGR declined its application for inclusion last October, citing its 54-hole competitions and exclusionary fields. LIV subsequently withdrew its application last month. Efforts to merge LIV with the PGA Tour are also ongoing.

Besides Rahm, Johnson and Niemann, other LIV players to qualify for this Masters include Bryson DeChambeau, Sergio Garcia, Tyrell Hatton, Brooks Koepka, Adrian Meronk, Phil Mickelson, Patrick Reed, Charl Schwartzel, Cameron Smith and Bubba Watson.

“Certainly, the fact that the best players in the world are not convening very often is not helpful,” Ridley said. “Whether that’s a direct causal effect (on TV ratings), I don’t know. But I think that it would be a lot better if they were together more often.”

Other developments covered during Ridley’s annual state of the Masters press conference:

— Augusta National grew again. The competition committee moved the No. 2 tee back 10 yard and to the left, extending the par-5 to 585 yards and adding another degree of difficulty for those hoping to reach the green in two shots.

But the decision reintroduced not only much longer the course has been lengthened but also how little space remains to stretch it further, given the distance factors with current equipment.

“For almost 70 years, the Masters was played at just over 6,900 yards,” Ridley said. “Today, the course measures at (7,555) from the markers and we may well play one of the tournament rounds at more than 7,600 yards. I’ve said in the past that I hope we will not play the Masters at 8,000 yards.

“But that is likely to happen in the not too distant future under current standards.”

Perhaps the foremost remedy is the new USGA and R&A rule limiting how far the ball used in elite competition can travel. Guidelines call for an approximate 5% reduction in distance, meaning a 13- to 15-yard difference off the tee. But that rule is not scheduled to be introduced until 2028 and the PGA Tour has not yet adopted that change.

Even after the course was substantially lengthened following Tiger Woods’ 1997 18-under-par rampage, Augusta National has continued to add yardage. In the last five years alone, the tees at Nos. 5, 11, 13, 15 and 18 have been moved back.

“We have some more room but we don’t have a lot,” Ridley said. “So I’m holding to that 8,000-yard red line and I hope we never get there.”

— Earlier in the week, former champion Vijay Singh suggested the par-3 No. 12, which still plays to its original 155 yards, should be lengthened by 10 yards. Don’t count on that.

“I would say with 100 percent certainty that it would not be lengthened during my tenure,” Ridley said. “That’s almost like asking, you know, can we touch up the Mona Lisa a little bit. I mean, I think that the 12th hole at Augusta is the most iconic par-3 in the world.”

— Ten years after it began, Augusta National’s Drive, Chip and Putt competition for juniors reaches a benchmark this week when one of its alumni, Akshay Bhatia, becomes the first Masters contestant. The competition has grown from 110 players from 19 states to this year’s field of 400 qualifiers from all 50 states.

Former women players have gone on to win 13 LPGA titles and three major championships.

“After the inaugural Drive, Chip & Putt finals in 2014, (Masters) chairman Billy Payne said he wanted to wait a few years before declaring the program a success,” Ridley said. “I believe Billy would agree the wait is over.”