A question that keeps coming up is which LIV golfers are playing in the Masters? The 2024 Masters will be the 88th edition of the golf Major. This year’s field will see 13 LIV golfers playing down from 18 in the field last year. The downtrend is from the Masters tournament continuing to use the same qualifying criteria as in the past to receive an invite. This means that if you are on the LIV golf tour, once you run out of rankings points, you have to go for one of the other exemptions / invite criteria to get an invite. We’ll go over that and more for you below.
Can LIV Golfers Play in the Masters?
The short answer to if LIV golfers can play in the Masters? Is yes. Augusta National announced before the 2023 Masters that the current qualifications for an individual remain in place. It doesn’t matter what tour a player is part of. Once a player makes the move to LIV, they start timing out on invite criteria such as being in the top-30 on the FedEx Cup points list and being in the top-50 in the World Golf rankings.
As a result, they need to have been on the tour to be high enough in World Golf rankings through 2023 for the 2024 Masters, or have an exemption. For example, if you have won the U.S. Open, British Open, or PGA you get an invite for the next five years. If you have won the Masters, you get a lifetime invite to the next Master’s tournament.
Did LIV Golfers Play in the 2023 Masters?
The 2023 Masters saw 18 LIV tour members earn spots to compete. Only about ½ of those players are exempt for 2024. Jon Rahm who has been in the news a lot lately and just joined LIV is eligible. He won the 2023 Masters, and he will enjoy a lifetime invite. This is similar to how Tiger Woods gets to play in the Masters every year if he’s able to do so. By winning the tournament.
Which LIV Golfers are Playing in the Masters?
So, for the 2024 Masters, there will be a total of 13 LIV golfers in the field. The better known LIV tour members playing are: Jon Rahm, Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, and Phil Mickelson. Augusta National made a surprise announcement inviting Thorbjørn Olesen, Ryo Hisatsune, and Joaquin Niemann to play. They were invited under the tradition of Augusta National inviting leading international players who are not otherwise qualified to earn a spot in the field. Here is the complete list of LIV golfers in the field:
- Bryson DeChambeau
- Sergio García
- Tyrell Hatton
- Dustin Johnson
- Brooks Koepka
- Adrian Meronk
- Phil Mickelson
- Joaquín Niemann
- Jon Rahm
- Patrick Reed
- Charl Schwartzel
- Cameron Smith
- Bubba Watson
Will the Masters Change the Criteria to earn a spot in 2025?
The short answer is probably not. What we will likely see first is more synthesis between LIV and the PGA to let the LIV players start earning points from LIV golf events towards world rankings and so forth. We’ll have to wait and see since the merger talks between the tours have been on a hold here the past few months. The 2024 Masters should be a fun one to watch in the mean time. You can check out the full list of Augusta National invitees here too.
