The Masters begins at Augusta National in just a few days, and all eyes will be on Joaquin Niemann, Dustin Johnson and the rest of LIV Golf’s stars, including Jon Rahm.
LIV Golf players have as much chance at the Masters as their PGA Tour counterparts – despite 54-hole tournaments without a cut – believes iconic coach Butch Harmon.
The first major tournament of the golf season begins Thursday at Augusta National in Georgia, and will have a LIV Golf star as defending champion. Jon Rahm won the first green jacket of his career in 2023, before joining LIV in a deal worth £450 million at the end of the year.
Since then, he has only participated in four competitive tournaments this year, including this weekend in Miami, all under the banner LIV banner and all adhering to the rules of the Saudi-funded separatist series.
There have been suggestions that playing in a relaxed atmosphere, with loud music, might not be sufficient preparation for playing in arguably the sport’s most important major, but Harmon believes that is not the case.
Asked by Sports Mirror If he thought LIV players would ever reach a point where they would struggle to compete with those on the PGA Tour at majors, the iconic coach insisted he thought Rahm, Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson would be just as competitive as anyone.
He explained: “I can’t say they’re not well prepared because if you look at Brooks Koepka last year, they’re ready to play, they’re good players.”
He added: “Secondly, it’s a different environment, there’s no doubt about that. The money is pretty much guaranteed, the move there was about money, I think you look at the big players – Rahm, DJ, Brooks, even go to the bottom of the list and there’s a whole bunch, 13, playing the Masters – those guys can still play golf.
“To say they won’t be competitive is wrong. Yes, they play 54 holes in a more relaxed atmosphere, but they are still some of the best players in the world. world.
“Look what Joaquin Niemann did this year, he was fireI think you’ll see a few players from LIV at Augusta be there and have a chance to win – Jon Rahm will be one of them, the defending champion.”
Joaquin Niemann has indeed been on fire on the LIV circuit so far this season, having won two events so far. He has been quite open about the fact that LIV players currently do not receive points in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR), a topic that divides opinion across the sport.
Players on the LIV Tour have seen their world rankings plummet due to the lack of OWGR points, with Niemann currently sitting 91st – a ridiculous position for a man tipped to win his first major this week.
But Harmon believes the problem could be easily resolved if LIV CEO Greg Norman made a key change in the way the league is run. He explained: “I think personally I would like to see them go 72 holes, widen their field a little bit, I think they would get some points in the world rankings if they did that.”
The Masters will be available on Sky Sports Golf and via a NOW subscription from April 11-14, and you can follow all the latest news on Sky Sports’ social and digital channels throughout the week.
