Last year, Brooks Koepka and Phil Mickelson finished tied for second place at the Masters, and Koepka went on to win the PGA Championship, proving that LIV golfers were still competitive in major events.
This year, the bigger concern was not whether they could hang with the PGA Tour elite, but rather how long they would be able to compete in the majors.
There are still plenty of starts remaining for past big winners like Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, Cameron Smith, and Phil Mickelson, among others. However, it’s not quite so simple for others, like Joaquin Niemann, who this week became the thirteenth and last member of LIV Golf to receive an invitation to Augusta.
The Chillean, who has already won two LIV competitions this year and publicly pushed for the special invitation he was given this week, is upbeat despite this.
Many LIV golfers nevertheless made an impact on the tournament even though they didn’t finish as well as they did in 2023, when they took three of the top six spots and later added winner Jon Rahm to their stable.
See here for a detailed analysis of every LIV golfer’s 2024 Masters performance.
Complete: T6
Results: 65–73–75–73 (-2)
How it took place:With a brutal showing off the tee, DeChambeau started with 65 to capture the lead in the first round and put the entire tournament on notice. However, from halfway through his back nine on Friday to the completion of the event, he never appeared to have the same mojo. By putting up a patron sign and hiding out on 18 Saturday to demonstrate that he is still a huge threat, he was able to amuse everyone throughout.
Cameron Smith
Complete: T6
Results: 71–72–72–71 (-2)
How it took place:Smith hung around the entire tournament, never really launching a serious charge, but had by far the most steady week of anyone in the field. Despite only hitting 20 greens during the weekend, he made 32 pars. He was within four strokes of Scheffler after his eagle on the second Sunday, but he failed to make another birdie the remainder of the competition and gave one