Report: LIV Golf officials invited to The Masters

It appears that defending champion Jon Rahm and his colleagues will not be the only LIV Golf representatives at The Masters this week.

Despite golf’s civil war rolling on, officials of the Saudi-backed circuit have been invited to The Masters, according to reports.

The Telegraph has reported that at least one high-ranking LIV official will attend the first major championship of the year.

LIV’s chief executive Greg Norman, who was a three-times runner-up at the tournament, is not expected to show face at The Masters.

It remains unclear whether LIV Golf chairman and Public Investment Fund (PIF) governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan will be spotted at Augusta National Golf Club.

Al-Rumayyan attended The Open at Hoylake last July, when he met with R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers.

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However, the extension of an invitation to LIV Golf officials represents a changing of the guard.

After being “disappointed” with the developments of LIV Golf back in 2022, Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley was accused of taking ‘multiple actions to indicate its alignment with the PGA Tour’.

LIV Golf’s anti-trust lawsuit against the PGA Tour included the Georgia golf club before Ridley admitted the breakaway league’s players would not be banned from the 2023 Masters.

But after calling for changes to the qualifying criteria for this year’s green jacket contest, Ridley shut down any chance of helping LIV Golf stars into the field.

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During a press conference at Royal Melbourne in Australia, host of the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship, the 71-year-old ruled out a significant change to the qualification process.

“If you look back over the history of the Masters tournament, and the qualifications that existed, we have changed those qualifications in numerous times, dozens of times,” he said.

“We look at those every year. We don’t make changes every year, but we do look at them under the current circumstances.

“As you’ll recall last year, there was some speculation as to whether or not we would invite LIV golfers. We stayed true to our qualification criteria. We invited everyone who was eligible.”

Reigning Masters champion Rahm is one of 13 LIV golfers in the field this week. Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia, Patrick Reed, Charl Schwartzel and Bubba Watson are all past champions.

John Turnbull A graduate of the University of Stirling, John joined the bunkered team in 2023 as a Content Producer, with a responsibility for covering all breaking news, tour news, grassroots content and much more besides. A keen golfer, he plays the majority of his golf at Falkirk Golf Club. Top of his 'bucket list' is a round of Pebble Beach... ideally in the company of Gareth Bale.