LIV Golfers to not get direct exemption to The Masters: Reports

Modified Apr 09, 2025 18:58 GMT

The Masters - Practice Day Three - Source: Getty — Bryson DeChambeau, The Masters (Image via Getty)

The much anticipated 2025 Masters Tournament will be held at the Augusta National Golf Club this week. With less than two days left to go for the event, Sports Illustrated's Bob Harig took to his X (formerly known as Twitter) account to announce that LIV Golf players might not receive direct exemption into the event.

The report from Harig included news from Fred Ridley, the Augusta National chairman. The latter clarified that while there remains a pathway for LIV Golf players to participate in the Masters Tournament through special exemptions, there will be no new exemption category for them.

Fred Ridley mentioned the case of Joaquin Niemann, who is competing in the upcoming Masters Tournament via a special invitation. Here's a look at Bob Harig's report (via X @BobHarig):

"A direct exemption to the Masters for LIV Golf does not appear to be forthcoming. Fred Ridley said Wednesday the ability to give invites via a special exemption as was given this year to Joaquin Niemann satisfies Masters officials. Typically any changes to invite criteria would be announced at this time."

Expand Tweet

The news reinforces the Masters Tournament's tradition where LIV Golf players must rely on their Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) to earn an invite to play the event or bear a past-champion's exemption.

How many LIV Golf players are in the 2025 Masters field?

There will be 12 golfers from the LIV Golf league that are set to tee it up at Augusta National this week for the Masters Tournament. Seven of these players bear a combination of 10 green jackets won.

Sergio Garcia will be making his 100th start in a Major championship. This makes the Spaniard the 19th male golfer in history to achieve the milestone. He has played the Masters Tournament 25 times and won the green jacket in 2017.

Joaquin Niemann is on the hunt to earn his maiden Major championship title this week. The former PGA Tour star currently leads the LIV Golf Individual leaderboard with a whopping 84.66 points earned through five events. The Torque GC captain won the LIV Golf events in Adelaide and Singapore.

Here's a full list of the LIV Golf stars who are a part of the Masters Tournament along with their odds of winning the event (via LIV Golf):

Bryson DeChambeau (Odds: 16 - 1)
Sergio Garcia (Odds: 66 - 1)
Tyrrell Hatton (Odds: 55 - 1)
Dustin Johnson (Odds: 80 - 1)
Brooks Koepka (Odds: 33 - 1)
Phil Mickelson (Odds: 90 - 1)
Joaquin Niemann (Odds: 30 - 1)
Jon Rahm (Odds: 14 - 1)
Patrick Reed (Odds: 66 - 1)
Charl Schwartzel (Odds: 200 - 1)
Cameron Smith (Odds: 50 - 1)
Bubba Watson (Odds: 500 - 1)

About the author

Lathika is one of the newer additions to Sportskeeda’s budding golf journalism team and has brought plenty of in-game experience to the role. Having been a golfer for over 12 years now, some of her crowning achievements include winning titles on the Indian Golf Union Ladies tour and Junior Girls Amateur tour.

She currently competes in Division 1 golf in New York, and hopes to play in the U.S. Open and Chevron Championship one day. She is set to cover the 2025 Ryder Cup as well. She is currently pursuing a degree in Business Administration and Management, and holds a Sports Marketing certification from Northwestern University, which helped her learn to draft press releases and ultimately transition into journalism.

Lathika has thus developed a knowledge base that allows her to view golf from both player, spectator and media lenses, enabling her to bring statistics, insights and an understanding of fan emotion together in her copies. She only uses verified information from reliable sources like the PGA TOUR.

Her favorite golfers are Nelly Korda and Tiger Woods, both for their playing style as well as their mental strength. Much of her time away from work is spent playing golf, but she also enjoys spending time with her family and friends, and learning new hobbies or upskilling.

Know More

Edited by Aatreyee Aich