It's time for the first major of 2023. It's always the most anticipated week on the golf calendar, and this year the excitement is heightened for many reasons.
The Masters is based on traditions, and we're accustomed to seeing the same elements year after year. However, this year, there's an air of disruption with the arrival of the exempt LIV golfers. For the first time since The Open, we're going to see the best players in the world from both sides of the argument go up against each other.'
18 golfers from LIV will tee it up this week, including former Masters champions Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia, Bubba Watson, Patrick Reed and Charl Schwartzel, in addition to Cam Smith, Brooks Koepka (who won last week on the LIV Tour in Orlando) and Bryson DeChambeau.'Can you imagine if we have Rory v DJ , or Rahm v Smith, showdown heading down the stretch on Sunday?! Whatever the eventual outcome, there's going to be hints of drama this week. Oh to be a fly on the wall at the Champions Dinner on Tuesday!
Personally, I think it's going to be interesting to see how the LIV golfers games stack up against the likes of Scheffler, Rahm and McIlroy – players we've seen play a lot of golf in 2023. I haven't watched as much of the LIV events, and we don't have stats for any of the guys, therefore don't really know how to make a comparison at present. However, looking at last year's Masters leaderboard, six of the LIV golfers who are playing this week finished within the top-15.' Cameron Smith is one LIV golfer that’s going to be on a lot of people's radars. He's played in the Masters six times and has four top-10 finishes, including a T3 last year and a runner-up in 2020.'