USGA

The Masters is an invitational , unaffiliated with any professional golf tour . As such , it sets its own criteria for who gets to play during the first full week of April at Augusta National .

Past Masters champions receive lifetime invitations . The winners of golf ’ s three other majors receive five-year invites . The winners of the U . S . Amateur , U . S . Mid-Amateur , Asia-Pacific Amateur , British Amateur and Latin America Amateur all receive invites .

Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley acknowledged being “ disappointed ” in the schism that has developed as a result of the continued fight between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf , but he wasn ’ t going to allow it to affect the club ’ s signature event . “ Our focus is to honor the tradition of bringing together a preeminent field of golfers ,” he said in a statement .

When the announcement was made earlier this winter , 16 LIV players were eligible to compete under the current invite criteria , including past champions Sergio Garcia , Dustin Johnson , Phil Mickelson , Patrick Reed , Charl Schwartzel and Bubba Watson . LIV players who meet invite criteria of being recent major winners include Bryson DeChambeau , Brooks Koepka and Cameron Smith .

Past U . S . Open champion Jon Rahm joked in his press conference prior to the Sentry Tournament of Champions in January that there might be a little more tension at the Champions ’ Dinner this year , but added he thinks any talk of real animosity between PGA Tour and LIV players is probably overblown .

“ I think it ’ s going to be the same ,” he said . “ I mean , I didn ’ t feel a difference in any of the majors last year . If somebody has a problem with LIV players , they ’ re just not going to deal with them and that ’ s about it .

“ In my mind , like I ’ ve said before , I respect their choice and the ones I was

friends with before I ’ m still going to be friends with , right ? It doesn ’ t change the way I ’ m going to operate with them . So I think a lot of , let ’ s say , animosity , if there ’ s any , might be created more by you guys ( the media ) than anything else . I don ’ t think there ’ s that much of a problem between players , at least in person , because if there is , they can avoid each other .”

With that out of the way , here are three more quick storylines to follow at the season ’ s first major .

STRETCH IT OUT Augusta National has been judicious in where it has added length to the course in recent years . A natural starting point was the par-5 15th hole , which was lengthened prior to the 2022 tournament . Next up : another scoring-friendly par-5 — Azalea , the 13th hole where par actually had become a bad score for anyone trying to make a late move up the leaderboard .

Augusta National purchased land from adjacent Augusta Country Club , which allowed it to move the back tee box on 13 from 510 to 545 yards . The hope is that the added distance will take cutting the corner off the tee out of the equation and

Cameron Smith , last year ’ s Champion Golfer of the Year , is among the LIV Golf players who will compete at the Masters .

make the second shot a more risk-reward proposition . No . 13 played to a 4.83 scoring average last year , making it one of the easiest holes on the course . The lengthening of No . 15 last year resulted in no eagles being made on that hole for the first time since 1966 . With the added yardage on No . 13 , the Masters will play at a record 7,545 yards in 2023 .

WHITHER RORY ? As of mid-February , Rory McIlroy was the betting favorite at + 750 , just ahead of Rahm (+ 850 ) and defending champion Scottie Scheffler (+ 1200 ). Is this the year he finally completes the elusive career grand slam ? He ’ s racked up seven top 10s in 14 career Augusta starts , including last year ’ s runner-up showing .

RUN IT BACK ? Speaking of Scheffler , he ’ s looking to become the first back-to-back winner at Augusta National since Tiger Woods in 2001-02 . The only others who got to hold onto his green jacket rather than drape it over someone else ’ s shoulders were Nick Faldo ( 1989-90 ) and Jack Nicklaus ( 1965- 66 ). Rarified air , indeed .