For months, golf fans — and pro golfers — wondered if Augusta National would allow LIV Golf members to compete in the Masters, and in December we got our answer: yes.
While this is the case for 2023, the statement also noted, “We look at every aspect of the Tournament each year, and any modifications or changes to invitation criteria for future Tournaments will be announced in April.”
As the current criteria stands, 18 golfers will receive invitations to play in the tournament through six different qualification standards.
The 18 LIV Golf members at the Masters are:
Phil Mickelson
Charl Schwartzel
Bubba Watson
Sergio Garcia
Patrick Reed
Dustin Johnson
Brooks Koepka
Bryson DeChambeau
Cameron Smith
Mito Pereira
Joaquin Niemann
Abraham Ancer
Thomas Pieters
Harold Varner III
Jason Kokrak
Kevin Na
Louis Oosthuizen
Talor Gooch
There are nineteen different ways in which an individual can qualify to tee it up at the Masters. (The Masters Committee also often invites several international players who are “not otherwise qualified.”)
Past Masters champions receive lifetime invitations to the tournament, and six LIV golfers have previously donned the green jacket.
Phil Mickelson (2004, 2006, 2010)
Charl Schwartzel (2011)
Bubba Watson (2012, 2014)
Sergio Garcia (2017)
Patrick Reed (2018)
Dustin Johnson (2020)
Mickelson also qualifies as a PGA champion from within the past five years, and Schwartzel and Johnson both finished top 12 at the last Masters, which would get them in even if they weren’t past winners.
Want drama? The 2023 Masters guarantees it with LIV golfers sharing the stage
Anyone who has won the U.S. Open in the previous four years also receives an invitation. Both Koepka (2018) and DeChambeau (2020) are still within that window. Koepka would also gain an exemption from his previous PGA Championship victory in 2019.
The same criteria is also true of the Open Championship, which means that the current Champion Golfer of the Year, Cameron Smith (2022), got his invitation to Georgia in the mail.
The top-four finishers and ties from the previous year’s PGA Championship qualify, which gets Pereira in despite his disastrous 18th hole at Southern Hills.
Seven LIV golfers qualify based on being inside the top 50 in the final Official World Golf Rankings from the previous calendar year.
Joaquin Niemann (22)
Abraham Ancer (30)
Thomas Pieters (37)
Harold Varner III (45)
Jason Kokrak (47)
Kevin Na (49)
Louis Oosthuizen (50)
(Smith, Pereira and Johnson would also get in from being top 50 in 2022 OWGR.)
And finally, any golfer who made it to the Tour Championship field in the previous year receives an invite, which is Talor Gooch’s ticket through the gates. (Niemann would also qualify through this had he not been in the top 50 in the OWGR.)
“Regrettably, recent actions have divided men’s professional golf by diminishing the virtues of the game and the meaningful legacies of those who built it,” part of Augusta National’s statement read. “Although we are disappointed in these developments, our focus is to honor the tradition of bringing together a preeminent field of golfers this coming April.”
How will everything shake out on site come Masters week? Let the countdown begin.