In 2021, the golf world was turned on its head when Australian legend Greg Norman, together with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, announced plans to create LIV Golf, a 54-hole, team-based golf league ostensibly formed to rival the PGA TOUR. The outrage among the highest levels of the PGA TOUR was immediate, and defections were slow at the outset, with Kevin Na eventually becoming the first.
Little by little, more and more talent has joined LIV Golf, which is currently in the middle of its fourth season. Several former major champions — including Jon Rahm, who won The Masters in 2023 — have since opted to play on the no-cut, big-money circuit. The upstart league has proven to be enough of a player on the global golf stage that, two years ago, the two tours signed a landmark deal agreeing to work towards a framework on eventual reunification.
For now, though, the circuits remain separate.
This weekend, 12 LIV Golf players will get the chance to prove their worthiness against the PGA TOUR’s best when 95 players descend upon Augusta National Golf Club for The Masters Tournament. Among them, the favorite is Rahm (+1300 at DraftKings Sportsbook), with Bryson DeChambeau (+1800) close behind. Overall, four LIV members are among the 12 players with the shortest odds of winning this weekend, with the others being Brooks Koepka (+3000) and Joaquin Niemann (+3500).
Seven of the 12 LIV players in the field earned their invites by virtue of being former green jacket winners. The most recent of the bunch is Rahm, but Dustin Johnson (2020), Sergio Garcia (2018), Patrick Reed (2017), Bubba Watson (2012 and 2014), Charl Schwartzel (2011), and Phil Mickelson (2004, 2006, and 2010) have all earned lifetime exemptions as past champions. Three players punched their ticket by winning one of the other four major championships: DeChambeau at the 2024 U.S. Open, Koepka at the 2023 PGA Championship, and Cameron Smith at the 2022 Open Championship. One, Tyrrell Hatton, finished in a qualifying place at least year’s Masters, and Niemann earned a special invitation to compete.
Only Koepka and DeChambeau have won major championships since joining LIV Golf, but several players have previously come close to donning the green jacket. Of those who haven’t won The Masters before, Koepka has tied for second twice and Smith once, while DeChambeau was joint sixth and Hatton joint ninth last season. Niemann’s best Masters finish (T-16) is the worst of the bunch, but he’s arguably in the best form of any player in the world. The 26-year-old Chilean has won two of LIV Golf’s five tournaments so far in 2025 and leads the circuit’s individual standings.
