Open champ Smith one of 15 ‘rebels’ guaranteed Augusta National start
Australia’s leading golfer Cam Smith has been given the all-clear to play in the US Masters in 2023.
Cameron Smith lines up his putt on the thirteenth hole during the first round of the 2022 Masters Tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club. EPA/JUSTIN LANE
Augusta National Golf Club chairman Fred Ridley announced on Tuesday that any golfer who has qualified for the Masters tournament based on its previous criteria will be invited to play in April.
That means at least 15 players currently competing on the LIV Golf circuit will be part of the field, including Smith who receives an invitation after winning the 2022 British Open Championship.
Having achieved four top ten finishes in the last five Masters, tying for second in 2020 and third in 2022, Smith will fancy his chances in Georgia.
Previous Masters champions qualify, which enables Americans Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Bubba Watson, Patrick Reed, Sergio Garcia of Spain, and Charl Schwartzel of South Africa.
Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka are allowed to head to Augusta as winners of the US Open in the past five years.
Joaquin Niemann of Chile has qualified through being in the top 30 in the FedEx Cup standings prior to leaving the PGA Tour in September.
Several others will finish the year in the top 50 of the world ranking including Kevin Na and Louis Oosthuizen.
However, Ridley made clear the club was unhappy at the schism that has developed in the sport since the arrival of LIV and re-iterated that in future qualifying criteria may change.
“Regrettably, recent actions have divided men’s professional golf by diminishing the virtues of the game and the meaningful legacies of those who built it,” he said in a statement. “Although we are disappointed in these developments, our focus is to honour the tradition of bringing together a pre-eminent field of golfers this coming April.
“Therefore, as invitations are sent this week, we will invite those eligible under our current criteria to compete in the 2023 Masters Tournament. As we have said in the past, we look at every aspect of the Tournament each year, and any modifications or changes to invitation criteria for future Tournaments will be announced in April.”
The PGA Tour has suspended members who have competed in the Saudi-funded breakaway without permission.
