Augusta avoids questions over Masters field by inviting LIV Golf’s Niemann

LIV Golf’s Joaquin Niemann has accepted a Masters invitation as Augusta National works to ensure there are no question marks over the quality of the field set to battle for the green jacket in Georgia from April 11-14.

LIV Golf remains beyond the pale for the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) and Niemann, who has played around the globe during his weeks away from the Saudi-backed circuit, has been rewarded for his excellent play over the past few months with a fifth trip down Magnolia Lane

Fred Ridley, Chairman of Augusta National and the Masters, announced yesterday that world number 81 Niemann had joined Denmark’s Thorbjørn Olesen (59th) and Japan’s Ryo Hisatsune (78th) in accepting invitations.

“The Masters Tournament has a long-standing tradition of inviting leading international players who are not otherwise qualified,” Ridley said. “Today’s announcement represents the Tournament’s continued commitment towards developing interest in the game of golf across the world.”

Ranked a career-high 15th in the world in 2022, Niemann was 16th in the Masters last year.

He’s since plummeted from 24th to 81st in the world and would be a lot lower were it not for the three top-five finishes he’s recorded in three DP World Tour starts this season, including an Australian Open that secured him a spot in The Open at Royal Troon.

Augusta National referenced those DP World Tour performances in its press release. But there was no mention of LIV Golf, where Niemann shot 59 before beating Sergio Garcia in a playoff at Mayakoba and where players do not receive world ranking points.

With so many big stars defecting to LIV Golf over the past few years and with winners of full-field events on a now diluted PGA TOUR, as well as the top 50 of the diminished OWGR, guaranteed Masters starts, the absence of a player of Niemann’s quality would raise question marks over the Masters field.

LIV Golf is not recognised as an Eligible Golf Tour in the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) system, not because of its 54-hole format or team element but because several players are on beneficial contracts which guarantee their spots on the tour no matter how they perform, even after the introduction of the LIV Golf Promotions event.

Augusta National is one of seven organisations represented on the board of the OWGR, which is chaired by former R&A Chief Executive Peter Dawson, who said last year that LIV players such as Masters winners Dustin Johnson or Sergio Garcia should be ranked.

“We are not at war with them,” Dawson said of LIV. “This decision not to make them eligible is not political. It is entirely technical.

“LIV players are self-evidently good enough to be ranked. They’re just not playing in a format where they can be ranked equitably with the other 24 tours and thousands of players trying to compete on them… I hope that LIV can find a solution — not so much their format; that can be dealt with through a mathematical formula — but the qualification and relegation.”

LIV Golf’s closed shop element remains, which means continuing OWGR frustration for Commissioner and CEO Greg Norman, who took to Instagram on Monday to lament the fact that eight LIV players are amongst the top 50 in the world or Data Golf but just two [Brooks Koepka, 29th, and Cameron Smith 44th] were in the OWGR top 50 “if you exclude recent signees”, meaning Jon Rahm (3rd), Tyrrell Hatton (17th) and Adrian Meronk (49th).

A total of 83 players, including Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry, have qualified for the Masters so far. But Padraig Harrington will have his chance to join them if he wins this week’s Mexico Open at Vidanta, where just four of the world’s top 50 tees it up.

Meanwhile, Conor Purcell will have a chance to move up the Race to Dubai again when he competes in the DP World Tour’s Magical Kenya Open.

The Challenge Tour remains in South Africa for the NMB Championship in Port Elizabeth, where Dermot McElroy, Jonathan Caldwell, John Murphy, Gary Hurley, Ronan Mullarney and Conor O’Rourke all tee it up.

On the LPGA Tour, Leona Maguire plays the Honda LPGA Thailand at Siam Country Club as Olivia Mehaffey and Lauren Walsh play the LET’s Lalla Meryem Cup at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam in Morocco.