LIV Golf Pros Were Not Surprised by Lack of Drama With PGA Tour Rivals at the Masters

From the Champions Dinner early in the week to Sunday’s final pairing of LIV Golf’s Brooks Koepka and the PGA Tour’s Jon Rahm, any talk of fireworks between members of the rival golf leagues turned out to be much ado about nothing at the Masters.

Those from LIV who played at Augusta two weeks ago spoke prior to the series’ event in Adelaide, Australia, and said they weren’t surprised at the reaction.

Koepka, who finished runner-up to Rahm, said Thursday morning:

“It was just good for the fans to see that we still communicate, we still play together, we still practice together, do everything the exact same. We’re still the same people.”

Brooks Koepka gives an honest assessment of his Masters performance this year, says he has been trying to digest what went wrong. pic.twitter.com/aGr1x0GgDm

— LIV Golf Latest (@LIVGolfLatest) April 19, 2023

Koepka said he knew it wouldn’t be an issue because he sees PGA Tour players very frequently as neighbors living in south Florida:

“I could run into 15 Tour guys if I want to in a day, and nobody has really had any negative feedback, any negative thing to say, and that would be the time to say it.”

Other players interviewed said they had similar experiences.

Dustin Johnson said

“I think [the fans] were really good at Augusta. Obviously, that is one place where fans are always very respectful. Everyone just respects Augusta and the Masters. It’s more about the golf than what tour you play on. I think that’s how it should be all the time.”

‘No negativity towards LIV players at Masters’

Koepka, Johsnson, DeChambeau say golfers from both tours communicated, practiced together

Read more: https://t.co/2GThBYkfVt#LIVGolf #PGATour #Koepka #DustinJohnson #DeChambeau pic.twitter.com/Uq0Tdan3Iu

— Tribune Sports (@ETribuneSports) April 19, 2023

Bryson DeChambeau said:

“Everybody that I had previously had relationships with, nothing changed from my perspective. A lot of it’s the media sometimes. I understand it. I think we all do. But at a certain point in time, we’re all golfers. We still play great golf, and as you can see at the Masters, you had three of the four up at the top were LIV players.”

Patrick Reed, who finished tied for fourth and has been one of the most outspoken LIV Golf members, didn’t comment this week but was gracious and congratulated Rahm on Twitter last week.

There is nothing like the tradition of playing in the first major of the year, @themasters .

Thank you to the tournament staff, volunteers, and grounds crew for a great tournament!

Special thank you to the fans for sticking with us through all the weather! The support you… pic.twitter.com/YVmtWqq8wJ

— Patrick Reed (@PReedGolf) April 10, 2023

LIV’s fourth event of 2023 is this weekend in Australia. They will again play with the PGA Tour at next month’s PGA Championship in Rochester, New York.

Cover Image Via SCOREGolf