We made it to spring and warmer weather ! Man , that was a cold winter , and like many golfers — I hate cold weather . Really , I hate it ! Hello , Florida ; wish I could be there throughout our cold Missouri winter months . Nevertheless , we ’ ve made it to my favorite time of year — Masters Month ! I ’ ve advocated for years , begging our government to make April 6 – 9 Masters National Holidays . Let ’ s all email our state representatives and demand a Masters holiday . Let ’ s “ Git-R-Done ”!

Last month , I watched the first network broadcast of the LIV Golf Tour event in Tucson , AZ . It was my first experience watching the league . Wow , it ’ s rather weird watching some of the best golfers and multiple majors ’ champions playing what looked like a college tournament or your average weekly course league . Watching some of golf ’ s biggest names like Phil Mickelson play golf in shorts and hoodie sweatshirts was even weirder — it sure didn ’ t have the Pro Golf feel . I must not be alone in feeling that way — the fairways were lined with only a few hundred spectators — and that may be a generous number . Maybe 10 - 20 people around numerous greens and tee boxes . Weird and a bit sad ! But Saudi cash talks — right ? Well , obviously , for LIV players , it does .

The same weekend , I flipped the channel to the PGA TOUR ’ s Valspar Championship . It was no doubt Professional Golf ! No exaggeration , thousands of spectators lined every square foot of the golf course with loud roars for great shots .

In this issue ( page 17 ), Tom Watson offers his Take on the LIV Golf Tour . Watson says , in part , “ The way I look at it , the PGA is a competitive tour ; the LIV tour an exhibition .” It ’ s an interesting read . Check it out .

But I regress ; it ’ s Masters Month ! Scottie Scheffler ( PGA TOUR ) will return to defend his 2022 Masters victory with a total of 10-under 278 score . When asked by Yahoo Sports about LIV Golf , Scheffler cleanly replied , “ All that stuff is not really for me . I can only show up and just try and play good golf , and I ’ m not going to LIV anytime soon and so it ’ s not of a concern for me at the moment .”

It ’ s widely known that the LIV and PGA ’ s incredibly contentious feud has been ongoing for over a year . LIV Golf players are still banned from competing in PGA TOUR events . However , the Masters and the other three major championships still allow LIV Golf players to compete — if they qualify .

When it comes to the Masters , Augusta makes its own rules and will not be altering its policies — no exceptions ! That means allowing as many as 16 current LIV players eligible to play in the Masters — the biggest event in golf . That includes six LIV players and past Masters champions who get lifetime exemptions — Phil Mickelson , Bubba Watson , Dustin Johnson , Sergio Garcia , Patrick Reed ( who cares ), and Charl Schwartzel . Plus , any other LIV player who previously qualified to play in the Masters is still invited to play .

It should make for an incredible Masters and a bit weird for the LIV players forced to play individual golf rather than team golf , wearing pants , in front of many thousands of fans ( rather than a few hundred ) watching and cheering — or jeering ! I ’ ll be watching !

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6 April 2023 TEE TIMES GOLF GUIDE

TEE TIMES GOLF GUIDE Magazine April-2023 | Page 6

From The Editor

It ’ s Masters Month — LIV Players Come Home