OPINION: LIV Stands Strong at 2023 Masters

The 2023 Masters was cued up to be something unique: the first time the now-settled LIV golfers would be competing against the PGA TOUR colleagues. And despite many golf pundits claiming the LIV golfers would falter after becoming accustomed to relaxed playing conditions, no cuts, and 54-hole events, the simple truth is that the LIV golfers demonstrated that they haven’t skipped a beat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Fresh off his win at the LIV Golf Orlando event, 4-time Major winner Brooks Koepka held the lead for the first three rounds of the Masters, stumbling after adverse weather (and falling trees) forced the third round to be finished Sunday before starting the fourth and final 18 holes.

Brooks kept it together for a second-place tie with none other than 3-time Masters champion Phil Mickelson, followed by a fourth-place tie finish by 2018 Masters champion Parick Reed. If you were reading closely, LIV golfers landed 3 of the top 5 finishes in their first Major debut.

While that would be an accomplishment that undermines the narrative—that LIV golfers have no competitive spirit and were going to be steamrolled by the TOUR competitors—we’ve been fed since the first LIV event back in June 2022, it was coupled with some disappointing performance from TOUR golfers who’ve been put on a pedestal. Rory McIlroy—who’s repeatedly criticized LIV and the defectors—and Justin Thomas both missed the TOUR (alongside LIV golfers like Sergio Garcia, Bubba Watson, and Bryson DeChambeau).

 

 

 

 

 

 

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So what’s the takeaway here: like everything in life, it comes down to the individual. It didn’t matter whether you compete on the TOUR, DP World Tour, or LIV, golfers who came (and were) prepared found their names near the top of the leaderboard.

Is LIV for everyone? Certainly not, but neither is strawberry ice cream. But what you cannot dispute now is that discrediting the skill or competitive spirit of golfers who compete for an alternative, no-cut league simply because it’s different isn’t just biased, it’s also foolish.

Cover Image Via GolfChannel