5 ex-Masters champs including Phil Mickelson peak at LIV Golf Miami before Augusta week

Five of the former Masters winners, including Phil Mickelson, secured the top spots on the leaderboard of this week's LIV Golf Miami event after the opening round of the tournament on Friday, April 4. The Saudi League players have teed it up in Miami for their regular season event ahead of next week’s Masters.

A total of 12 LIV golfers have secured their spots in the first Major of the year and seven of them have won the Masters before. Intriguingly, the former Masters winners are having a great time this week in Miami and five of them have secured a spot in the top 5 and their ties after the Friday round.

Patrick Reed, who won the Masters in 2018, is leading at 5-under, followed by 2020 Masters winner Dustin Johnson and three-time Masters winner Phil Mickelson in a tie for second place along with two-time Major winner Bryson DeChambeau. Meanwhile, Sergio Garcia, winner of the 2017 Masters, and Charl Schwartzel, winner of the 2011 Masters, both settled in a three-way tie for fifth place at 2-under along with Sebastian Munoz.

The two other LIV golfers who have won the Masters previously, including Jon Rahm and Bubba Watson, also had a decent start in the Miami event. Rahm played the opening round at 1-over and settled in T16, while Watson scored the T35 place at 4-over.

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Aside from these seven former Masters winners, Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Joaquin Niemann, Cameron Smith, and Tyrrell Hatton will also be playing at the Augusta National event next week.

Exploring the leaderboard of LIV Golf Miami featuring Phil Mickelson

Here is the leaderboard after the first round of the 2025 LIV Golf Miami:

1. Patrick Reed: -5
T2. Dustin Johnson: -3
T2. Bryson DeChambeau: -3
T2. Phil Mickelson: -3
T5. Sebastian Muñoz: -2
T5. Sergio Garcia: -2
T5. Charl Schwartzel: -2
T8. Marc Leishman: -1
T8. Peter Uihlein: -1
T10. Harold Varner III: E
T10. Luis Masaveu: E
T10. Anirban Lahiri: E
T10. Paul Casey: E
T10. Caleb Surratt: E
T10. Dean Burmester: E
T16. Cameron Tringale: +1
T16. Jason Kokrak: +1
T16. Charles Howell III: +1
T16. Tom McKibbin: +1
T16. Jon Rahm: +1
T16. Brooks Koepka: +1
T16. Cameron Smith: +1
T23. Yubin Jang: +2
T23. Carlos Ortiz: +2
T23. Matt Jones: +2
T23. Abraham Ancer: +2
T23. Anthony Kim: +2
T23. Kevin Na: +2
T29. Danny Lee: +3
T29. Brendan Steele: +3
T29. Martin Kaymer: +3
T29. Sam Horsfield: +3
T29. Matthew Wolff: +3
T29. Ian Poulter: +3
T35. Young-han Song: +4
T35. Talor Gooch: +4
T35. Henrik Stenson: +4
T35. Bubba Watson: +4
T35. Chieh-Po Lee: +4
T40. David Puig: +5
T40. Lucas Herbert: +5
T40. Branden Grace: +5
T43. Mito Pereira: +6
T43. Lee Westwood: +6
T43. Tyrrell Hatton: +6
T43. Joaquin Niemann: +6
T43. Frederik Kjettrup: +6
T43. Adrian Meronk: +6
T49. Graeme McDowell: +7
T49. Louis Oosthuizen: +7
T49. Ben Campbell: +7
T49. Richard Bland: +7
53. Thomas Pieters: +8
54. Andy Ogletree: +10

About the author

Ankita Yadav is an NFL and Golf writer at Sportskeeda with over three years of experience in journalism (and counting). With a Master’s degree in Chemistry, she somehow swapped test tubes for touchdowns and tee shots—and hasn’t looked back since.

She’s previously covered the world of entertainment with OtakuKart and TV Season & Spoilers and worked as an editor at ComingSoon. Her stories have racked up nearly nine million reads, and she’s had the chance to interview top athletes like professional golfer Yuvraj Singh Sandhu.

Based in Bhopal, Ankita proudly supports the Kansas City Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes, and is a fan of Nelly Korda. When she’s not writing, she’s probably at a live music show, watching a movie, out on a long drive, or in the kitchen cooking up something that tastes better than it looks.

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Edited by Mitali