"Couples spoke a lot but…”- Fred Couples did not mention LIV at Masters dinner

Hoag Classic - Round One
Fred Couples at the Hoag Classic - Round One

The PGA vs LIV controversy is a hot topic in the golf fraternity. The 1992 Masters champion Fred Couples fueled the fire after he made comments about LIV golfers Phil Mickelson and Sergio Gracia.

Just recently, on April 4, at the Masters Dinner, all the previous champions arrived to sit down together at Augusta National Golf Club. Everyone felt that there would be some sort of tension at the dinner table. But by God's grace, the event was successful and no one from either side made any comments on each other.

While speaking to Golfweek, 1973 Masters champion Tommy Aaron stated that Fred Couples spoke a lot but did not mention anything about LIV. He said,

"Couples spoke a lot but didn't mention LIV at all. I sat next to Freddie, and he and Ray Floyd kept trying to figure out how many champions had come out of the final group."

However, Aaron revealed that Phil Mickelson kept a 'low-profile' during the meal while sitting at the end of the table, he said,

"I wished him good luck, but I couldn't believe how quiet he was! Phil took a very low profile. He didn't say a word."

Even the 1979 Masters Champion Fuzzy Fuzzy Zoeller shared that Phil Mickelson kept a low profile,

"Phil sat near the end of the table and kept to himself. He didn't speak at all."

Fred Couples, before Tuesday's dinner, made some comments on LIV Golfers. Later on, he supported his comments by saying,

"I've made comments, but they need to understand if they've looked at anything I've ever said, I call myself the same stuff I'm calling them, I just don't think they should bash the PGA Tour or anybody, just go play golf."

Earlier, Fred Couples called out Phil Mickelson as a 'nutbag' and Sergio Garcia a 'clown', which garnered a lot of attention from fans and golf veterans.

17 LIV Golfers, including Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia, Dustin Johnson, and Bubba Watson, are set to tee off on April 6 at the 2023 Masters tournament.


Full list of players participating in the 2023 Masters

A total of 90 players are scheduled to participate in 87th edition of The Masters tournament:

  1. Fred Couples
  2. Sandy Lyle
  3. Patrick Reed
  4. Jordan Spieth
  5. Sergio Garcia
  6. Hideki Matsuyama
  7. Scottie Scheffler
  8. Bubba Watson
  9. Dustin Johnson
  10. Phil Mickelson
  11. Mike Weir
  12. Zach Johnson
  13. Larry Mize
  14. Charl Schwartzel
  15. Tiger Woods
  16. Bernhard Langer
  17. Jose Maria Olazabal
  18. Adam Scott
  19. Vijay Singh
  20. Danny Willett
  21. Bryson DeChambeau
  22. Gary Woodland
  23. Matt Fitzpatrick
  24. Jon Rahm
  25. Brooks Koepka
  26. Shane Lowry
  27. Francesco Molinari
  28. Collin Morikawa
  29. Cameron Smith
  30. Justin Thomas
  31. Sam Bennett
  32. Ben Carr
  33. Aldrich Potgieter
  34. Harrison Crowe
  35. Matthew McClean
  36. Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira
  37. Cameron Champ
  38. Sungjae I'm
  39. Will Zalatoris
  40. Corey Conners
  41. Rory McIlroy
  42. Tommy Fleetwood
  43. Viktor Hovland
  44. Cameron Young
  45. Mito Pereira
  46. Keegan Bradley
  47. Max Homa
  48. Chris Kirk
  49. Xander Schauffele
  50. Adam Svensson
  51. Sam Burns
  52. Mackenzie Hughes
  53. Kurt Kitayama
  54. Patrick Cantlay
  55. Bill Horschel
  56. Tony Finau
  57. Kim Si Woo
  58. Seamus Power
  59. Russell Henley
  60. Tom Kim
  61. Justin Rose
  62. Brian Harman
  63. Joaquin Niemann
  64. Scott Stallings
  65. Sahith Theegala
  66. Tom Hoge
  67. JT Poston
  68. Sepp Straka
  69. Aaron Wise
  70. Taylor Moore
  71. Lee Kyoung Hoon
  72. Abraham Ancer
  73. Tyrell Hatton
  74. Adrian Meronk
  75. Louis Oosthuizen
  76. Ryan Fox
  77. Kevin Kisner
  78. Kevin Na
  79. Thomas Pieters
  80. Talor Gooch
  81. Jason Kokrak
  82. Alex Noren
  83. Harold Varner III
  84. Sam Burns
  85. Jason Day
  86. Harris English
  87. Keith Mitchell
  88. Min Woo Lee
  89. Kazuki Higa
  90. Gordon Sargent

Amidst the PGA vs LIV controversy going around, the officials of the 2023 Masters announced 17 LIV golfers were eligible to play at this year's tournament.

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Edited by Sabine Algur
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