LIV Golf, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Rory McIlroy and the merger: Issues eclipse the Masters

AUGUSTA, Ga. — As the planet looked toward the heavens to witness the captivating umbra, the stars of golf realigned Monday as three days of practice began for the sport’s annual unofficial commencement and fractured family reunion.

A year ago, the Masters served as the litmus test for Saudi-backed LIV Golf’s legitimacy and Tiger Woods’ viability. This year, the defending champion, once an LIV critic, is the rival tour’s biggest defector, but, ironically, is still a critic. Nobody knows (still) if Tiger will ever even finish a tournament again, much less win one, especially with the weather forecast for the end of this week. What we know for certain is that LIV Golf and the PGA Tour one day will affect some sort of partnership, but not how the partnership will treat the traitors. (The PGA Tour has banned LIV golfers, but the majors allow them to play if they meet qualifying criteria.)

Bryson DeChambeau, one of LIV’s biggest names, suggested a Super Bowl-type format: “You can look at it like the NFL, and you could have NFC/AFC, sort of working in their own fields, and at the end they come together, put on a huge event at the end of the year.”

As it stands, the Masters acts as a sort of Super Bowl between the entities.

Last year, Brooks Koepka and Phil Mickelson tied for second at the Masters, leading three top-10 finishers from the LIV ranks, a resounding indication of what was to come. Koepka won the PGA Championship. Cam Smith and Patrick Reed made all four major cuts. Current LIV golfers have won three of the past five majors, and eight of the 13 in this year’s field have at least a decent chance to win it.

Sigh.

The number of LIV golfers dwindled from 18 last year to 13 this year, but, since LIV events don’t carry world golf rankings points, LIV actually lost eight players from the Masters field. Three of this year’s LIV golfers weren’t with LIV last year: Tyrrell Hatton, Adrian Meronk, and, of course, Jon Rahm, the PGA Tour’s former vanguard against the onslaught of the established golf world’s Hun. Rahm outlasted Koepka, formerly LIV’s biggest star, in the final two rounds in Augusta last year.

» READ MORE: LIV Golf loses, Jon Rahm and America win as Brooks Koepka chokes away the Masters

Notably, it was holes 55 through 72 in which Rahm took over the tournament. LIV events last only 54 holes, one of the main points of criticism with the tour’s format.

Rahm told the BBC, “If there ever was a way where LIV could go to 72 holes, I think it would help all of this argument a lot.”

Previously one of the PGA Tour’s harshest critics of LIV and its players, Rahm disparaged LIV’s shotgun starts, lack of a cut, and watered-down fields of competitors (Pat Perez). He reveled in the PGA Tour’s courtroom wins and swore that, after making more than $51 million by 2023, a huge payday to join LIV would not tempt him. Then he left, reportedly for a possible total of $566 million, with $302 million just to sign.

“I mean, I’m not going to sit here and lie to you,” Rahm said. “It’s definitely one of the reasons.”

No. It’s all 566 million reasons.

Last year, Woods willed his rebuilt 47-year-old body through three days of misery, and will try to do so again at 48. He made the cut on the number last year, but, after fighting pain and weather for three days, the cold, the rain, the Augusta hills, the age, and the injuries forced him to withdraw Sunday morning.

Woods’ surgically repaired right foot, shattered in a car accident in 2021, was the culprit here last year, but it was again surgically repaired last April. However, though he played in his 2023 Hero Challenge, he has not played a full-field, 72-hole event since the 2023 Genesis Invitational, which he also hosts. He withdrew from the 2024 Genesis with the flu and hasn’t competed since.

The good news: He looked spry during a practice round Monday.

The bad news: It’s supposed to rain here Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.

Mickelson took $200 million from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) and led the charge to LIV, where he has withered. In fact, since he left in June of 2022, the only time Mickelson has played passably well was over the four days at Augusta in 2023.

His inflammatory comments regarding LIV published in 2022 shamed him out of that year’s Masters and PGA Championship, and so he moved to LIV. He’s missed the cut in four of the last five majors he’s played in. Incredibly, of the 25 LIV events in which he’s participated, he’s finished inside the top 10 just twice, and never better than eighth.

You have to wonder if the PIF is getting the ROI it anticipated.

Rory McIlroy, the effervescent Northern Irishman and currently the world’s most significant golfer, would offer a pleasant distraction from the game’s current woes if he completed his career grand slam with a win here. He’s finished in the top 10 in six of the nine Masters since he won the third leg at the 2014 PGA Championship. He finished third on Sunday at the Valero Texas Open.

On the other hand, McIlroy hadn’t finished inside the top 20 of his five previous tournaments, and he’s missed two of the last three cuts at the Masters, including last year.

He’s the No. 2 player in the world, and DraftKings had him as its No. 2 favorite to win, at plus-1,000 as of Monday night.

Their No. 1 favorite was, of course, the world’s No. 1 player ...

» READ MORE: Rory McIlroy agrees that, with golf’s many issues, Scottie Scheffler’s dominance isn’t getting its due

Scottie Scheffler remains the quietest juggernaut in the sports world. He’s held the top spot for 82 weeks. He’s won eight times in the past 30 months, including the 2022 Masters and the last two Players Championships. In his last three starts, he went win-win-T2. Since February of 2022 he’s finished in the top-five 27 times.

And all anybody could talk about was LIV, Phil, Tiger, and Rory.

And that’s just the way he likes it.