Augusta, VE. -If there have been small signs of a thaw between the main professional golf powers and the rival of Liv Golf, backed by Saudi, which has been seen as a disruptive, the president of the teachers, Fred Ridley, crushed on Wednesday any rumors of an automatic exemption in the teachers for any LIV player based on the performance.
Changes in the qualification criteria are generally announced on the eve of the Masters, which begins in Augusta National.
None offered on Wednesday the annual conference of loans of pralournaments of the duration of Ridley.
Ridley, however, asked for reunification of the game, saying that the best players should compete together in more than only the four main championships.
Recently, the US Open and British Open have extended a place of classification in their respective championships this year (potentiably two next year) through the classification of individual points of Liv Golf.
That raised questions about whether Augusta National would do the same.
“As it relates to the USGA and the R&A, they certainly act independently [and] We respect your decisions, “said Ridley.” We are an invitation tournament. Historically we consult special cases for invitations for international players, which is how Joaquin Niemann is [from Chile and a two-time winner this year on LIV Golf] He was invited, or why he was invited, the last two years.
“We believe that we can deal with that problem, be it a LIV player or player on another tour that could not otherwise be eligible for an invitation, that we can handle it with a special invitation.”
There are 12 LIV players in the field this week, seven of whom have won the masters and are exempt from life: Phil Mickelson, Jon Rahm, Sergio García, Bubba Watson, Dustin Johnson, Charl Schwartzel and Patrick Reed.
Bryson Dechambeau, Brooks Koepka and Cam Smith are in the field this week as a result of winning the main championships in the last five years.
Tyrrell Hatton finished the Top 12 in the Masters last year and was also the top 50 at the Owgr at the end of 2024.
Niemann is the only LIV player who did not describe, but entered with the special invitation.
Interestingly, for the first time since Liv Golf was formed in 2022, the masters invited their CEO to the tournament, with Scott O’Neil on the site as a guest.
Previously, then CEO Greg Norman had not invited the leg, although he attended the last two years after having acquired the badge of a pattern.
“Scott is here, and we are pleased to have it as our guest,” said Ridley. “Although I have no specific plans to meet him, I know we have some discussions with him, and we are happy to be here.”
