8 Golf stars have dropped out of The Masters field as sport’s civil war rages on
The Masters brings LIV Golf and PGA Tour players together at Augusta National for the first major of 2024, but the group representing LIV is no longer as big as it once was
Talor Gooch is a notable omission from the Masters field this year (
The number of LIV Golf players in the Masters field this year has decreased drastically compared to the previous edition.
Of the 88 golfers in line to tee it up at Augusta, only 13 play in the league. That total is down from 21 last year despite the signing of Adrian Meronk, reigning champion Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton.
Bubba Watson, Charl Schwartzel, Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed, Phil Mickelson and Sergio Garcia, like Rahm, are all in thanks to their lifetime exemption as former winners. Meanwhile, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau and Cameron Smith benefit from being recent major winners. Hatton, Meronk and Joaquin Niemann also profit from their past play, but that leaves eight on the outside looking in.
Sport has listed the LIV Golf stars who won’t be taking part in Augusta this week.
Even after winning LIV Golf’s event in Hong Kong, Ancer will not be at Augusta again this year, ending a streak of four straight starts. After playing all four majors in 2023, the former world number 11 is not currently exempt from any this year.
Harold Varner III
Varner played at the last two Masters, finishing inside the top 30 on both occasions. But he will not be back this year, regardless of a maiden LIV Golf win in Washington DC last May.
Jason Kokrak
After failing to cut last year, 12 months after finishing tied-14th at Augusta, Kokrak cannot rectify that this year. He did not play at the other three majors in 2023 and will miss all four 12 months later.