A whole host of LIV Golf stars are set to miss out on a place at next year’s Masters Tournament, with Augusta National bosses expected to host one of its smallest fields for some time
Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood, and LIV Golf champion Talor Gooch are among the players who will miss the Masters in 2019. Augusta National will likely have one of its lowest fields in a long time.
As of right now, it seems that only 77 players will compete in the 2024 edition, which is scheduled for April of next year. 88 players were invited to Augusta for the current tournament; typically, the field at Augusta consists of between 85 and 100 players.
The reduced field comes after it was confirmed bosses at the opening major championship of the year would not be altering their qualifying criteria to allow more LIV stars to compete.
The breakaway league’s representation in Georgia is set to be limited next April, amid its ongoing wait for world ranking points. There had been calls for golf’s four majors to introduce some sort of exemption list for LIV’s best performers who had not already qualified via other pathways.
Sadly for Poulter and co, Masters chief Fred Ridley claimed that there would be no change to qualification for 2024, but did hint there could be some alterations in the future. “If you look back over the history of the Masters tournament, and the qualifications that existed, we have changed those qualifications in numerous times, dozens of times,” Ridley said in October.
“We look at those every year. We don’t make changes every year, but we do look at them under the current circumstances. As you’ll recall last year, there was some speculation as to whether or not we would invite LIV golfers. We stayed true to our qualification criteria. We invited everyone who was eligible.
While we do not, at this time, anticipate making a change in 2024, we do always look at (exemptions), and we will continue to do that. Our qualifications are very much dynamic, and we adjust to what we feel is in the best interest of a tournament representing the best players in the world. We’ll always look at that.”
Arguably the biggest omission will be LIV’s 2023 individual champion Gooch. The American star won three times on the breakaway circuit this year, before getting his hands on the season-long prize after finishing second in Jeddah behind Brooks Koepka in October.
Despite receiving a £14 million bonus, he was unable to qualify for any of the four majors in 2024 due to a lack of world ranking points. Gooch, who recently moved to Koepka’s Smash GC, is hoping that he can still make it to Augusta in April despite the rejection.
While participating in the November Hong Kong Open, Gooch said to Mirror Sport, “We’ll see what they [those in charge of the major championships] all decide.” “I hope to be at the majors next year, you know.”
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