AUGUSTA, Ga. — As the planet looked toward the heavens to witness the captivating umbra, the stars of golf realigned Monday as three days of practice began for the sport’s annual unofficial commencement and fractured family reunion.

A year ago, the Masters served as the litmus test for Saudi-backed LIV Golf’s legitimacy and Tiger Woods’ viability. This year, the defending champion, once an LIV critic, is the rival tour’s biggest defector, but, ironically, is still a critic. Nobody knows (still) if Tiger will ever even finish a tournament again, much less win one, especially with the weather forecast for the end of this week. What we know for certain is that LIV Golf and the PGA Tour one day will affect some sort of partnership, but not how the partnership will treat the traitors. (The PGA Tour has banned LIV golfers, but the majors allow them to play if they meet qualifying criteria.)

Bryson DeChambeau, one of LIV’s biggest names, suggested a Super Bowl-type format: “You can look at it like the NFL, and you could have NFC/AFC, sort of working in their own fields, and at the end they come together, put on a huge event at the end of the year.”

As it stands, the Masters acts as a sort of Super Bowl between the entities.

Last year, Brooks Koepka and Phil Mickelson tied for second at the Masters, leading three top-10 finishers from the LIV ranks, a resounding indication of what was to come. Koepka won the PGA Championship. Cam Smith and Patrick Reed made all four major cuts. Current LIV golfers have won three of the past five majors, and eight of the 13 in this year’s field have at least a decent chance to win it.

Sigh.

LIV and let live

The number of LIV golfers dwindled from 18 last year to 13 this year, but, since LIV events don’t carry world golf rankings points, LIV actually lost eight players from the Masters field. Three of this year’s LIV golfers weren’t with LIV last year: Tyrrell Hatton, Adrian Meronk, and, of course, Jon Rahm, the PGA Tour’s former vanguard against the onslaught of the established golf world’s Hun. Rahm outlasted Koepka, formerly LIV’s biggest star, in the final two rounds in Augusta last year.

Notably, it was holes 55 through 72 in which Rahm took over the tournament. LIV events last only 54 holes, one of the main points of criticism with the tour’s format.

Rahm told the BBC, “If there ever was a way where LIV could go to 72 holes, I think it would help all of this argument a lot.”

...continued

©2024 The Philadelphia Inquirer. Visit inquirer.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.