The Masters will get underway tonight within the first conflict between one of the best of the PGA tour and the motley crew from the breakaway LIV tour.
Aussie Cameron Smith, Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka headline the group of 18 LIV gamers competing at The Masters.
Organisers of the 4 majors are convening at The Masters to debate whether or not LIV gamers can be awarded world rating factors.
In the event that they aren’t, there might be a world in a number of years the place Smith can’t play majors if he falls outdoors the highest 50.
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One key determine within the LIV vs PGA battle is Greg Norman, who has labelled the choice to not invite him to this 12 months’s Masters as “petty”.
“We didn’t lengthen an invite to Mr. Norman,” August Nationwide chairman Fred Ridley mentioned.
“The first difficulty and the motive force there may be that I need the main focus this week to be on the Masters competitors, on the good gamers which are taking part, the best gamers on the planet.
“I might additionally add that, within the final 10 years, Greg Norman has solely been right here twice, and I imagine a type of was as a commentator for Sirius Radio. It actually was to maintain the concentrate on the competitors.”
However the brutal and unstated fact is that The Masters don’t have to ask Norman to attend as a result of he by no means gained at Augusta.
Norman completed second on the Masters on three events — in 1986, 1987 and 1996 — and victory slipped by means of his grasp a number of instances.
He gained The Open twice however will ceaselessly be outlined by his remaining spherical collapses, most notably his heartbreaking meltdown on the 1996 Masters the place he gave up a six-shot lead.
Golf Digest’s Shane Ryan mentioned this week on the Native Information podcast: “What’s painful about 1996 is regardless of every thing he went by means of, you would possibly have a look at his profession and say something lower than eight majors for this man is a critical disappointment’ — the reality is one Masters win, only one, would have been sufficient.
“He completed within the prime 5 9 instances there. Simply wanted one. It might have taken care of the complete narrative.
“Contemplating what the man went by means of, if he had gained, the story we inform about Greg Norman as we speak would have been a narrative of redemption.”
There are a number of painful reminders for Norman on this 12 months’s Masters.
Two of the 5 Australians competing, Min Woo Lee and Harrison Crowe, have been paired to play the primary spherical with Larry Mize — the person who nailed an not possible chip-in to beat Norman on the 1987 Masters.
And curiously, the “featured teams” for spherical one, which viewers can select to observe on the TV broadcast, don’t characteristic any LIV gamers.
It appears the message from The Masters to LIV’s stars is obvious — you’re allowed to play at August, for now, however don’t count on a lot airtime.
Full breakdown of tee instances
World No. 1 and defending champion Scottie Scheffler can be joined by fifth-ranked Max Homa whereas world quantity two Rory McIlroy opens alongside Tom Kim and Sam Burns when the 87th Masters begins late on Thursday night time.
Augusta Nationwide revealed the pairings on Tuesday with no stunning strikes involving LIV Golf gamers, who had been scattered among the many subject alongside PGA rivals all through the a six-hour span.
Scheffler, who gained final month’s Gamers Championship, can be joined by Homa, who gained his sixth PGA title in January at Torrey Pines, and reigning US Newbie champion Sam Bennett.
4-time main winner McIlroy, making an attempt to finish a profession Grand Slam, will play the primary two rounds alongside 20-year-old South Korean Kim, who gained two PGA titles final 12 months, and Eleventh-ranked American Burns, who gained the WGC Match Play two weeks in the past.
Scheffler’s group tees off 1:36pm in Thursday’s opening spherical, 12 minutes forward of the McIlroy trio within the day’s penultimate group.
Canada’s Mike Weir will hit the primary aggressive shot at 8am, taking part in alongside US LIV Golf participant Kevin Na.
Reigning British Open champion Cameron Smith of Australia will tee off at 10:54am. Thursday alongside 2021 Masters winner Hideki Matsuyama on Japan and South Korea’s Im Sung-jae.
Tiger Woods, a 15-time main winner and five-time Masters champion, tees off at 10:18am alongside Norway’s Viktor Hovland and Tokyo Olympic champion Xander Schauffele.
FRIDAY TEE TIMES (ALL TIMES AEST, AUSSIES BOLDED)
9:40pm (Thursday night time) Gary Participant (Honorary Starter), Jack Nicklaus (Honorary Starter), Tom Watson (Honorary Starter)
10pm Mike Weir, Kevin Na
10:12pm — Vijay Singh, Scott Stallings, Matthew McClean
10:24pm — Sandy Lyle, Jason Kokrak, Talor Gooch
10:36pm — Fred {Couples}, Russell Henley, Alex Noren
10:48pm. — Adrian Meronk, Kevin Kisner, Louis Oosthuizen
11pm — Larry Mize, Min Woo Lee, Harrison Crowe
11:12pm — Sergio Garcia, Kazuki Higa, Keith Mitchell
11:24pm — Patrick Reed, Adam Svensson, Sahith Theegala
11:36pm — Shane Lowry, Mackenzie Hughes, Thomas Pieters
11:48pm — Bubba Watson, Seamus Energy, Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira
12:06am (Friday morning) — Abraham Ancer, Chris Kirk, Keegan Bradley
12:18am — Tiger Woods, Viktor Hovland, Xander Schauffele
12:30am — Adam Scott, Patrick Cantlay, Kurt Kitayama
12:42am — Justin Thomas, Jon Rahm, Cameron Younger
12:54am — Hideki Matsuyama, Cameron Smith, Sungjae Im
1:06am — Jose Maria Olazabal, Cameron Champ
1:18am — Charl Schwartzel, Taylor Moore, Aldrich Potgieter
1:30am — J.T. Poston, Francesco Molinari, Bryson DeChambeau
1:42am — Bernhard Langer, Mito Pereira, Ben Carr
1:54am — Danny Willett, Gary Woodland, Brooks Koepka
2:12am — Sepp Straka, Harold Varner III, Ok.H. Lee
2:24am — Phil Mickelson, Tom Hoge, Si Woo Kim
2:36am — Billy Horschel, Harris English, Ryan Fox
2:48am — Zach Johnson, Jason Day, Gordon Sargent
3am — Brian Harman, Joaquin Niemann, Tyrrell Hatton
3:12am — Dustin Johnson, Corey Conners, Justin Rose
3:24am — Matt Fitzpatrick, Collin Morikawa, Will Zalatoris
3:36am — Scottie Scheffler, Max Homa, Sam Bennett
3:48am — Tom Kim, Rory McIlroy, Sam Burns
4am — Jordan Spieth, Tommy Fleetwood, Tony Finau
With AFP
