Golf’s first major, The Masters, tees off Thursday morning at Augusta National, and in addition to the field of PGA Tour players who qualified, a group of LIV Golf players will also be taking part in the tournament.
The whole LIV against PGA debate has raged on for more than a year, and while a back-and-forth akin to AEW vs. WWE has gone on in the media from players on both circuits, NBC’s Mike Tirico told Dan Patrick on Wednesday that it’s been business as usual otherwise ahead of the weekend.
“I thought it would be more from just the field for the week, and I think it’s been diffused pretty quickly,” said Tirico, who is leading SiriusXM’s coverage from Augusta National. “I think the guys got here, and it feels different.”
Tirico noted that LIV players were not treated as second-class citizens at the annual champions dinner on Tuesday night, and so far all reports indicated the six LIV players who attended the dinner got along with their PGA counterparts.
Tirico seemed to think The Masters being the first major has helped set a different tone.
“Maybe if the U.S. Open or the PGA was first, it might be a little more knife’s edge and a little more tension,” he said. “But I think nobody wants to be the guy who is at The Masters and made it about LIV versus the PGA Tour and not The Masters tournament. It just doesn’t feel like the place to do it.”
Mike also mentioned that LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman has been absent from Augusta this week. With Norman not being a former tournament champion, he wasn’t invited to the champions dinner, and it sounded like there was no real reason for Norman to even be at the tournament at all, even if it was to support the LIV contingent.
