From The Editor
Kansas City ’ s Longest Running Monthly Golf Magazine
Bill Cromwell , Editor-in-Chief TEE TIMES GOLF GUIDE™ Magazine
It ’ s Masters Month
We made it to April , my favorite time of year — Masters Month ! For years , I ’ ve advocated and begged our government to make Masters Friday in April a National Holiday . Despite repeated emails to our state representatives with my requests for a formal Masters holiday date , it has yet to go into effect . Let ’ s “ Git-R-Done ”!
When it comes to the Masters , Augusta makes its own rules and will not be altering its policies — no exceptions ! That means allowing many current eligible LIV players to play in the Masters — the biggest event in golf . That includes six LIV players and past Masters champions who have 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 .
As of March 7 , just 84 of the invitees were expected to compete at this year ’ s Masters . Depending on how many more players qualify before the April event dates , this year ’ s Masters field could be one of the smallest in recent history . Over the last 10 years , 2018 and 2019 had the fewest number of competitors — 87 . Roughly 102 amateurs and pros , including all past champions , have lifetime invitations to play at the event , but not all commit to play .
On February 21 , Fred Ridley , Chairman of Augusta National Golf Club and the Masters Tournament , announced on Masters . com that Denmark ’ s Thorbjørn Olesen , Japan ’ s Ryo Hisatsune , and Chile ’ s Joaquin Niemann have accepted “ Special Invitations ” to compete in the 2024 Masters .
“ The Masters Tournament has a long-standing tradition of inviting leading international players who are not otherwise qualified ,” Ridley said . “ The announcement represents the Tournament ’ s continued commitment towards developing interest in the game of golf across the world . We look forward to welcoming each player to Augusta National this spring .”
Once again , the return of LIV players to the Masters should make for an interesting Masters . It will be a bit weird for the LIV players forced to play individual golf rather than team golf . They ’ ll have to wear long pants like real professionals in front of many thousands of fans ( rather than a few hundred ) watching and cheering — or jeering them on ! They will also be required to play golf without easy-listening background music streaming throughout the course . Hey , it ’ s the Masters –– I ’ ll be watching April 11 – 14 !
Thank you for reading our magazine . Enjoy your golf !
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6 April 2024 TEE TIMES GOLF GUIDE