LIV Golf branding will be seen throughout Augusta National this week in a sign that relations in golf’s so-called civil war appear to be thawing.
Many of the 13 LIV players in the Masters field this week are sporting their team uniforms and the LIV logo, but that wasn’t the case last year.
The 18 LIV golfers in last year’s field reportedly agreed in a pre-tournament meeting to ditch the LIV logo from their apparel, caps and bag “out of respect” for the Masters.
While it’s unclear if last year’s decision was due to a request by Augusta National, it appears that no such move exists this year, with the 54-hole tour golfers all wearing their usual LIV branding this week – perhaps a sign of growing acceptance of the rebel tour within the golfing ecosystem.
LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman – who is in attendance at Augusta this week, albeit as a paying customer – claimed in an interview with the Washington Post that the reaction towards LIV from fans and security at the Masters has been overwhelmingly positive.
“Walking around here today, there’s not one person who said to me, ‘Why did you do LIV?'” Norman said.
“There’s been hundreds of people, even security guys, stopping me, saying, ‘Hey, what you’re doing is fantastic.’ To me, that tells you that what we have and the platform fits within the ecosystem, and it’s good for the game of golf.”
The PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which bankrolls LIV, remain in talks over a proposed merger in hopes that a deal will once again unify the men’s professional game.
Friendly rivalry remains, however, with two-time Masters champion and LIV golfer Sergio Garcia sending a pre-tournament warning to the rest of the field that the 13-player contingent are “coming for that green jacket”.
The LIV players, including eight former champions, competing this week at Augusta are:
- Bryson DeChambeau
- Sergio Garcia
- Tyrell Hatton
- Dustin Johnson
- Brooks Koepka
- Adrian Meronk
- Phil Mickelson
- Joaquin Niemann
- Jon Rahm
- Patrick Reed
- Charl Schwartzel
- Cameron Smith
- Bubba Watson
..
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