It’s Masters week and always an exciting week for all golf fans! The media will focus on the usual topics; what is being served at the Champions dinner, changes to the course, who will win. This year, I am positive another focus will be on the LIV players; how are they treated (by other players, in the media room, and by fans), and what are the odds a LIV player could win the championship.

So it made me wonder which LIV players were invited. Looking at the official list of invitees on the Masters website it turns out 18 LIV players were sent invitations. The players qualified to play because of various reasons. Below are the players grouped by how they qualified for the 2023 Masters. Note: Some of the players fit more than one qualifying category so I list them under the more impressive category to me (e.g., Past Winners vs Top 50 player in the Official World Golf Ranking).

Past Masters Winners

1. Sergio Garcia (won 2017)
2. Dustin Johnson (won 2020)
3. Patrick Reed (won 2018)
4. Charles Schwartzel (won 2011)
5. Phil Mickelson (Won 2004, 2006, 2010)
6. Bubba Watson (Won 2012, 2014)

2022 Winner of The Open and Players Championship

1. Cameron Smith

Won The U.S. Open or PGA Championship within the last 5 years

1. Bryson DeChambeau
2. Brooks Koepka

Qualified for 2022 Season Ending Tour Championship & in top 50 OWGR

1. Joaquin Niemann
2. Taylor Gooch

2022 PGA Championship – Top 4

1. Mito Pereira

Ranked in the top 50 of OWGR for previous calendar year

1. Abraham Ancer
2. Jason Kokrak
3. Kevin Na
4. Louis Oosthuizen
5. Thomas Pieters
6. Harold Varner III

I believe once the championship begins play on Thursday that the chatter about LIV will fade away unless a LIV player is actually in contention.