Masters 2024: Why are LIV golfers allowed to play at Augusta National? How the 13 players earned invite

The first major of the men’s golf calendar is almost upon us as the Masters gets underway at Augusta National Golf Club on Thursday. The major arrives with the PGA Tour and LIV Golf still separated despite a merger being announced between the two tours almost 12 months ago.

The split in men’s professional golf has saw a number of players move to the Saudi-backed golf league, with 2023 Masters champion Jon Rahm the biggest name to sign a contract with LIV. The tensions between those who left the PGA Tour and those who remained have simmered since a host of names departed on big-money deals.

However, one of LIV’s biggest stumbling blocks is that their tournaments do not earn Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points. They dropped their application to be part of the OWGR last month. The top 50 players in the final Official World Golf Ranking for the previous calendar year qualify for the Masters, as well as the 50 top players when the rankings are published the week prior to the Masters.

There are other avenues for LIV players to compete at the Masters but only 13 players will feature from the Saudi-backed tour. Below we have listed the LIV players who will compete at Augusta National and how they punched their ticket to the first major of the season.

LIV players at 2024 Masters and how they qualified

Past champions

Any player who wins the Masters earns a lifetime invite to any future tournaments. That means Jon Rahm, Patrick Reed, Charl Schwartzel, Bubba Watson, Sergio Garcia, Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson will always be able to play at Augusta, representing seven of the 13 LIV players at the tournament this week.

Rahm doesn’t think moving to LIV will harm his chances of victory in Georgia, as he steps back up to a 72-hole event. He said: “I’ve had a lot of fun playing in those [LIV] events. The competition’s still there.

“Yeah, they’re smaller fields but you still have to beat some of the best players in the world and you still have to play at the same level you have to play on the PGA Tour to win those events. I understand there’s less people. I understand the team format’s a little different. I understand we’re going shotgun and things are a little bit different to how they are in a PGA TOUR event.

“But the pressure’s there. I want to win as bad as I wanted to win before I moved on to LIV. Going down the stretch when you’re in contention is the exact same feelings. That really doesn’t change. Winning is winning and that’s what matters.”

Other major exemptions

Any players who win The Open, US Open or US PGA Championship earn an invite to the next five Masters with Bryson DeChambeau (2020 US Open), Brooks Koepka (2023 PGA Championship) and Cameron Smith (2022 The Open) all earning their way to Georgia via this method.

Other routes

Adrian Meronk will play at Augusta National after ending 2023 in the top 50 of the OWGR before moving to LIV. Tyrrell Hatton earned his spot through his presence at the PGA 2023 Tour Championship before his move to LIV while Joaquin Niemann received a special invite after winning two of LIV’s first three events in 2024.