Masters to allow LIV Golf players to compete in 2023 tournament

Former champions who have joined LIV Golf will allowed to play at Augusta National

Sergio Garica and Patrick Reed will be allowed to enter as former champions (Getty Images)

The Masters will invite players from the controversial breakaway LIV Golf circuit to compete in next year’s tournament if they meet the existing entry criteria, it has been confirmed.

It means previous Masters champions such as Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia, Bubba Watson, Patrick Reed and Charl Schwartzel will be eligible to compete at Augusta National next April.

Other leading players such as Cameron Smith, Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka will also be eligible due to their recent performances in major tournaments and position in the top-50 of the world rankings.

The PGA Tour have suspended players who joined the Saudi Arabia-backed competition, which launched in June this year and caused significant disruption to the sport and its leading professional tours this season.

The Open did not ban players from competing at the Championship at St Andrews in July, although R&A chief Martin Slumbers did not rule out changing the tournament’s entry criteria next season.

In a statement, Masters chairman Fred Ridley said entry criteria would remain the same for 2023 but added that changes could be made for the following year.

“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,” Ridley said. “Although we are disappointed in these developments, our focus is to honor the tradition of bringing together a preeminent 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,