AUGUSTA, Ga. — Is it “us vs. them” or “us and them?”
There have been mixed signals from the 18 LIV Golf tour members about their personal approaches leading into Thursday’s first round of the 87th Masters Tournament.
Are they a renegade group out for their league’s interests this week, or just happy to be playing with their former mates on the PGA Tour, many of whom they haven’t seen since July’s British Open?
It’s not the only story, just the biggest. Next year at this time, since LIV Golf currently doesn’t receive world ranking points, there likely will be a smaller number of them represented in the Masters.
In a normal year, the focus at Augusta National Golf Club would be on Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm, the latest Big Three of golf. They are peaking at just right time and ranked Nos. 1-3, respectively, in the world.
Scheffler is attempting to be the fourth golfer to win the Masters in back-to-back years; McIlroy hopes to complete the career Grand Slam in his ninth try; Rahm is off to a blistering start this season.
Masters 2023 leaderboard: Get the latest news from Augusta
“When the tournament starts Thursday, everybody starts even par,” Scheffler said Wednesday. “Just because you’re defending doesn’t mean I get to start at 1 under. I’ll be approaching it just like I do a lot of other tournaments.”
Five-time Masters champion Tiger Woods, playing in his 25th Masters, believes the 33-year-old McIlroy “will win” the Masters. One day.
“I think that it’s just a matter of time, whether it’s this year or next or whenever it comes, he will get it done, and he will have a career Grand Slam,” Woods said. “It’s just what year it will be; it will definitely happen.”
Rahm finished in the top 10 in his first seven events this season. Three of them were victories.
“The form, you aren’t going to always be indicative on how good of chances you have, but at the end of the day, it’s a new week, right,” Rahm said. “What you’ve done before doesn’t really matter, period. There’s been many times where there’s players that haven’t had the best year, but for some reason they feel confident on their chances and they’ve done good golf.”
LIV Golf opens Masters seeking respect
But, as has been the case all week, the focus will be on the LIV Golf players, even if Augusta National has tried to deflect attention away from them.
That’s why LIV commissioner and CEO Greg Norman wasn’t…
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