“As far as the golf course, it really was affected just as the rest of the community was.”
Hurricane Helene swept through the southern part of the country last week, leaving behind an extensive amount of damage to several states. The home of the Masters — Augusta, Georgia — was one of the thousands of communities affected by the natural disaster. On Saturday, Augusta National Golf Club released a statement regarding the status of the golf course.
“Our Augusta community has suffered catastrophic and historic impact from Hurricane Helene. We currently are assessing the effects at Augusta National Golf Club,” wrote club Chairman Fred Ridley. “In the meantime, our focus and efforts are foremost with our staff, neighbors and business owners in Augusta. Our thoughts and prayers are with them as well as everyone throughout Georgia and the Southeast who have been affected.”
Ridley is in Japan for the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship at the Taiheiyo Club, where the winner will earn an invitation to play in the 2025 Masters and British Open.
While meeting with the media, Ridley touched on a few things regarding the condition of Augusta National, including whether or not the course would be ready for April.
“As far as the golf course, it really was affected just as the rest of the community was,” he said according to Golf Digest. “… There was a lot of damage and we have a lot of people working hard to get us back up and running.”
He added that the club will be up and running “sooner rather than later.”
Scottie Scheffler gives a thumbs up to the crowd after winning the 2024 Masters Tournament. (Photo: Adam Cairns-USA TODAY Network)
The Memorial Tournament, the latest PGA Tour signature event, is set to get underway Thursday morning at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio. This is the final event before all eyes turn to Pinehurst No. 2 in North Carolina for the U.S. Open, the third men’s major championship of the year, scheduled for June 13-16.
Defending champion Viktor Hovland is joined in the field by world No. 1 and Masters winner Scottie Scheffler, PGA Championship victor Xander Schauffele, Rory McIlroy and two-time Memorial winner Patrick Cantlay, among others.
Before the best players in the game get going Thursday morning, most are participating in the Memorial Tournament pro-am — and the field is loaded.
Check out some of the best pictures from Wednesday at Muirfield Village.
There are 13 LIV players in the field this year, down from 18 last year.
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Ahead of last year’s 2023 Masters, LIV Golf CEO and Commissioner Greg Norman said there would be a party on the 18th green if one of his players were to win at Augusta National. An invitation was withheld from Norman in 2023 “to keep the focus on the competition” after Norman and company blew up professional golf as we know it.
This year, the Great White Shark showed up to the party among the Georgia pines on Wednesday with a pair of LIV executives.
“I’m here because we have 13 players that won 10 Masters between them,” Norman told the Washington Post. “So I’m here just to support them, do the best I can to show them, ‘Hey, you know, the boss is here rooting for you.’”
In 23 appearances at the Masters as a player, Norman logged eight top-five finishes, including a trio of runners-up showings highlighted by his blown six-shot lead on Sunday in 1996. This year marks Norman’s first time back at Augusta National since 2021 when he was a SiriusXM radio analyst.
Earlier on Wednesday, Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley addressed LIV Golf and their desire for a special qualification criteria.
“Now, historically, and as stated in our qualification criteria, we consider international players for special invitations,” Ridley continued. “But we do look at those every year and we, I will say that if we felt that there were a player or players, whether they played on the LIV tour or any other tour, who were deserving of an invitation to the Masters, that we would exercise that discretion with regard to special invitations.”
In fact, one was given to LIV’s Joaquin Niemann due to his performances on the DP World Tour over the last several months. Norman thinks a few more players should have been invited.
“I think there’s probably a couple that have been overlooked that should be in,” Norman said. “What is that number? I’m not going to give it a definitive number, but they’re definitely quality players that have done incredible performances over the last six to nine months that are worthy of it.”
There are 13 LIV players in the field of 89 this week, down from the 18 that made their way down Magnolia Lane in 2023.
“That’s almost like asking, you know, can we touch up the Mona Lisa a little bit.”
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Fred Ridley shot down any notion that the world-famous 12th hole would be lengthened at any time, if ever.
“Well, forever is a long time. I would say with a hundred percent certainty that it would not be lengthened during my tenure,” the Augusta National Golf Club and Masters Tournament Chairman said on Wednesday.
In his annual pretournament “State of the Masters” news conference, Ridley addressed a suggestion made this week by former Masters champ Vijay Singh that at least 10 yards be added to the 155-yard par-3 hole because he thinks it’s playing too easy.
“That’s almost like asking, you know, can we touch up the Mona Lisa a little bit. I mean, I think that the 12th hole at Augusta is the most iconic par-3 in the world. It has been and I won’t say it always will be, but I think it always will be,” said Ridley, who played the hole as a participant three times in the late 1970s, which makes him the first chairman in club history to have played in the Masters.
The 12th hole, called Golden Bell, is the signature hole at Augusta National Golf Club and is the lone one that has never been lengthened since the Masters debuted in 1934.
“There’s something about – I don’t know what it is, but there’s something about the topography, the trees, the wind, the beauty that just – it just captures your imagination,” Ridley said. “When you combine that with the history that’s been made there, I mean, the most recent being the tragedies and triumphs when Tiger Woods won in 2019.
“You know, Freddie Couples’ ball, you know, hanging up on the edge of Rae’s Creek, which is part of the – made part of the song ‘Augusta.’ And so I just think it is such an iconic hole that’s had so many important moments in the Masters that I’m not sure that another 10 yards would really make a difference. Players are hitting short irons, but doesn’t seem to matter, the hole is very difficult.”
Historically, the hole is the fourth-most difficult at Augusta National, playing an averge of .270 strokes over par.
That’s almost like asking, you know, can we touch up the Mona Lisa a little bit
In a wide-ranging news conference that included an update the Augusta National’s plans to take over the Augusta Municipal Golf Course with Augusta Tech, the biggest news centered around the breakaway LIV Golf tour, with Ridley saying there is a possibility some of its American players could receive a special invitation to play in the Masters in the future. Special invitations have only gone to international players in the past.
With no world ranking points for the players on that tour, some top players who left the PGA Tour for the money at LIV are not here this week, including Talor Gooch, the tour’s player of the year last season.
Jon Rahm tees off on No. 1 during a practice round at Augusta National Golf Club ahead of the 2024 Masters. (Photo: Michael Madrid-USA TODAY Network)
The top 50 players in the world at the end of each calendar year qualify for the Masters. Many of the LIV players have dropped out of the top 50 since jumping to the rebel circuit, which opened shop in June 2021. Thirteen LIV golfers are here this week and seven of them are former Masters champions who have lifetime invitations into the tournament.
“But I think in our case, we’re an invitational, and we can adjust as necessary … Now, historically, and as stated in our qualification criteria, we consider international players for special invitations,” he said.
That’s how LIV golfer Joaquin Niemann of Chile got into the field this year. After he concluded his LIV event commitments, he added tournaments like the Australian PGA and the Australian Open, which he won, to his schedule.
That caught the eye of Augusta National and helped him get the invite.
Familiar LIV members who have qualified for past Masters but not this year include Gooch, Louis Oosthuizen, Abraham Ancer, Mito Pereira, Harold Varner III, Paul Casey and Dean Burmester, a four-time DP World Tour winner before signing on the with LIV. He won last week’s LIV event in Doral, Florida.
“I will say that if we felt that there were a player or players, whether they played on the LIV Tour or any other tour, who were deserving of an invitation to the Masters, that we would exercise that discretion with regard to special invitations,” Ridley said.
Ridley discounted the idea of creating a qualification system for LIV golfers based on how they play on that tour.
“Yeah, I don’t know the answer to that,” he said. “I think it will be difficult to establish any type of point system that had any connection to the rest of the world of golf because they’re basically, not totally, but for the most part, a closed shop.”
This is the second year that the Masters – and golf in general – has dealt with the specter of LIV. Two LIV players – Phil Mickelson and Brooks Koepka – tied for second in the 2023 Masters, and winner Jon Rahm later jumped ship to LIV in December.
Since the 2023 Masters, the PGA Tour and LIV have agreed to a framework to possibly work together, but progress has been slow and an agreement might not be struck by the 2025 Masters.
Taking over Augusta Municipal
As for Augusta National’s plans for the Augusta Municipal Golf Course, the club will take over the lease in January 2025. It will be for $1 a year for up to 50 years. Ridley said work will start in January with a projected April 2026 completion date.
The Augusta Municipal Golf Course. (Photo: Katie Goodale/The Augusta Chronicle-USA TODAY Network)
“We have reached an agreement with the City of Augusta to lease this facility, and over the past year we have had multiple community input sessions with the many stakeholders who frequent The Patch,” Ridley said. “With the insightful feedback we received, we are on a great path to make significant improvements to The Patch and to the First Tee facilities. In that regard, we have retained two of golf’s most respected course designers, Tom Fazio and Beau Welling, to lead the renovation of this historic municipal course. So, while planning is still in process, we’ll have more details next year, I think it’s just going to be fantastic.”
Ridley praised the success of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, which just completed its fifth edition, but doesn’t think women professionals will ever have a tournament or team competition at Augusta National.
“There are some fundamental difficulties in that,” Ridley said. “We happily were able to find a way to have a competition for juniors and a competition for women amateurs sort of wrapped around the Masters Tournament, and it just seems to fit really well. To have another tournament of any kind would be very difficult based on our season, based on the fact that this is essentially a winter and spring golf course.
“It’s not open in the summer. It doesn’t play the way we want it to play in the fall for a major tournament,” he said.
Dustin Johnson set the tournament record of 20-under 268 in the 2020 Masters, which was played in November because of COVID-19.
Ridley noted that the only hole that was lengthened on the course this year was No. 2, where 10 yards were added to the tee. The course has constantly added yardage – including 35 last year to No. 13 – in an effort to stay ahead of golf equipment technology and stronger athletes. He’s hoping that a proposed rollback of the distance the golf ball can travel will be approved in January 2028.
“Adding distance to the Augusta National golf course has become standard operation over the past two decades,” Ridley said. “For almost 70 years, the Masters was played at just over 6,900 yards. Today the course measures 7,550 yards from the markers, and we may well play one of the tournament rounds this year at more than 7,600 yards. I’ve said in the past that I hope we will not play the Masters at 8,000 yards. But that is likely to happen in the not too distant future under current standards. Accordingly, we support the decisions that have been made by the R&A and the USGA as they have addressed the impact of distance.”
Referring to what he called the 8,000 yard “red line,” Ridley said “We have some more room, but we don’t have a lot. So I’m holding to that 8,000-yard red line, and I just hope we never get there.”
There was much talk last year that the added distance to the 13th hole – the second-most famous hole at Augusta National after No. 12 – would take some excitement out of the tournament because fewer players would go for the green in two shots, making it a “three shot” par 5.
The club found that on the two dry days in the 2023 Masters that wasn’t the case.
“But one thing I do know for certain is that, in the two days we had data, that more players went for the green in two on their second shot, that went for the green in two, than did the previous year,” Ridley said. “Now, there’s a real simple reason for that. If you look at the scatter chart from the year before there were a lot of balls up in the trees. Last year those same drives didn’t reach the trees and they were a little bit further to the right, the perfect drive. They were further from the green, but they were in the fairway; 250 yards is not a problem for most of these guys. So, it kind of brought back, in a way, that momentous (risk-reward) decision that Bobby Jones talked about and really, in sort of a counterintuitive way, made the hole a more exciting hole. The concern by many was that by making it longer we were going to take the excitement out of it.
“So, I was really happy to see that data, because it really showed that more players are pulling out their hybrids or even three metals or five metals and going for the green and that was established by that data last year.”
Surprisingly, since Augusta National rarely announces club changes off the course, Ridley revealed what he called a “two-phase project that will significantly elevate the experience of all Masters competitors.”
He said Phase 1 will include underground parking and will be operational next year. The second phase, he said, will be finished by the 2026 Masters and “will feature a three-level state-of-the-art facility, designed to anticipate every need for players, their families, and support teams.”
If a player not already exempt wants a spot in the Masters, it’s up to them to go and earn it, like Joaquin Niemann.
AUGUSTA, Ga. — When LIV Golf’s Joaquin Niemann was announced as one of three players to receive a special invitation to the 2024 Masters, the folks at Augusta National pointed to his three top-five finishes on the DP World Tour this season, including his win at the Australian Open last December.
They also referenced his previous Masters appearances and 2018 Latin American Amateur Championship. They did not, however, reference any of his accolades on the Saudi-backed league.
During his annual press conference on Wednesday ahead of this year’s Masters, chairman Fred Ridley addressed how the club evaluates LIV players and whether a special qualification criteria would be created for those who play outside of the Official World Golf Ranking jurisdiction.
“As you know, we’re on the board of the OWGR. We believe that it is a legitimate determiner of who the best players in the game are,” Ridley said. “There’s been communication that’s been public regarding, you know, the LIV’s application, which it subsequently was withdrawn after some remedial suggestions were made regarding pathways and access to players and concern about some of the aspects of team golf.”
“But I think in our case, we’re an invitational, and we can adjust as necessary. I mean, a great example is this year Joaquin Niemann was given a special invitation,” Ridley added. “We felt that Joaquin had not only a great record coming up to this year, but after his season, you know, he went to Australia, played very well there, finished fourth in the Australian PGA, won the Australian Open, one of the great, great championships in the world. And we thought he was deserving of a special invitation.”
Once again, no mention of his pair of LIV Golf wins this season.
“Now, historically, and as stated in our qualification criteria, we consider international players for special invitations,” Ridley continued. “But we do look at those every year and we, I will say that if we felt that there were a player or players, whether they played on the LIV tour or any other tour, who were deserving of an invitation to the Masters, that we would exercise that discretion with regard to special invitations.”
Long story short, and much to the chagrin of the likes of Bryson DeChambeau and Phil Mickelson, LIV players shouldn’t be holding their breath for any new qualification criteria in the near future.
With guaranteed contracts and very little turnover due to LIV’s forgiving relegation system, the chairman noted how it would be difficult to establish a point system that had any connection to the rest of the world of golf because of LIV’s “closed shop” format. That said, as an invitational, the Masters has the ability to give, as Ridley calls it, “subjective consideration” to players based on talent and performance.
“Our goal is to have, to the greatest extent possible, the best field in golf, the best players in the world,” Ridley explained. “Having said that, we never have had all the best players in the world because of the structure of our tournament. It’s an invitational. It’s a limited field, it’s a small field.”
The Masters and Augusta National play by their own rules, and as an independent major, they have every right to do so. Here’s the quiet part out loud: playing 14 LIV events isn’t going to cut it for the green jackets to extend an invite. If a player not already exempt wants a spot in the exclusive field, it’s up to them to go and earn it, like Niemann. It won’t be handed out like a signing bonus.
Professional golf has long been a meritocracy, and it’s no surprise that a club steeped in tradition like Augusta National is sticking to that spirit.
“I’m pleased to announce that the second phase of Map & Flag will debut during the 2025 tournament,” said Augusta National Golf Club chairman Fred Ridley said early into his annual Wednesday gathering with the media in Interview Room.
“One final piece of news on facilities I would like to share with you is the commencement this summer of a two-phase project that will significantly elevate the experience of all Masters competitors,” he went on to explain. “Phase 1 will include underground parking and will be operational next year. The second phase of this project will open in 2026 and will feature a three-level state-of-the-art facility, designed to anticipate every need for players, their families, and support teams.”
The Press Building was abuzz with chatter about the underground parking. The exact location isn’t known but it’s likely to be up and running in a year’s time.
The “three-level state-of-the-art facility” could bring to fruition the long-rumored on-site accommodations for players and their families.
“We’ll have more details when we are together next April,” Ridley said.
Ridley doesn’t want the Masters to play more than 8,000 yards, but fears that may be the case in the future.
AUGUSTA, Ga. — During his annual media appearance ahead of the 2024 Masters at Augusta National Golf Club on Wednesday, chairman Fred Ridley said the club supports the golf ball rollback spearheaded by the USGA and R&A in an effort to curb the growing distance problem in golf.
In his opening statements, Ridley talked about how for years the tournament was played at less than 7,000 yards, but noted this year’s yardage had extended to 7,555 yards. He also said one day this week the course could measure more than 7,600 yards.
The most notable comment the chairman made was that he doesn’t want the Masters to play more than 8,000 yards, but fears that may be the case in the future if distance isn’t diminished.
“I’ve said in the past that I hope we will not play the Masters at 8,000 yards. But that is likely to happen in the not too distant future under current standards,” said Ridley. “Accordingly, we support the decisions that have been made by the R&A and the USGA as they have addressed the impact of distance at all levels of the game.”
Last December the USGA and R&A announced they were changing how golf balls will be tested for conformity to reduce the effects of distance in the sport. Starting in 2028, for a golf ball to be deemed conforming and be legal for play, it will be tested using a robot that swings a titanium club at 125 mph and hits the ball on an 11-degree launch angle with 2,200 rpm of spin. The shot can not exceed the Overall Distance Standard (ODS) of 317 yards of combined carry distance and roll (with a 3-yard tolerance).
Currently, balls are at 120 mph with a launch angle of 10 degrees and 2,520 rpm of backspin, so the change increases the robot’s clubhead by 5 mph, increases the launch angle by 1 degree and decreases the spin rate by about 300 rpm.
Nearly every golf ball being sold today would go too far and fail the new test because manufacturers design their balls to go right to the current distance limits. Increasing the test speed by 5 mph and hitting shots at low spin rates and higher launch angles would make all of today’s balls go too far and become non-conforming. Balls that had previously been legal but failed the new test will be removed from the Conforming Ball list, making them illegal for official play starting Jan. 1, 2028.
According to Thomas Pagel, the USGA’s chief governance officer, using golf balls that pass the new test will result in a loss of distance, with the fastest-swinging players being affected the most and recreational golfers being affected the least.
Ridley said he hopes the PGA Tour and other golf tours and leagues will adopt the regulations and join Augusta National in its support of the USGA and R&A’s initiative.
“I certainly hope they will be, were they not it would cause a great deal of stress in the game it doesn’t need right now,” Ridley explained.
He also noted how, even if the regulations are implemented, other aspects of technology within the rules and the physicality and technical ability of the players will allow them to catch up and make up the difference in distance. Ridley doesn’t envision new tees closer to greens and he plans on “holding that 8,000-yard line.”
“We have some more room,” he added, “but we don’t have a lot.”
Distance has been a highly debated issue in golf – both the PGA Tour and LPGA immediately spoke out against the new regulations – and Augusta National’s support of the USGA and R&A’s efforts marks a significant step in the process to curb distance and make the game more sustainable.
Argentina’s Angel Cabrera is welcome to return the Masters, with one big catch.
Argentina’s Angel Cabrera is welcome to return the Masters, with one big catch.
In order to officially receive his invite and play in the men’s major in April, he first must obtain a visa, said Augusta National Golf Club Chairman Fred Ridley.
Speaking during a press conference at the Latin America Amateur Championship in Panama, Ridley was asked about whether Cabrera, who won the Masters in 2009 and is currently listed on the tournament website as a non-invited past champion, would be given a spot in the field as is custom to past champions.
“Angel certainly is one of our great champions,” Ridley said in one of the first questions posed to him. “As we all know, he has been unable to participate in the Masters the last couple of years due to legal issues. Presently we have been in constant contact with Angel’s representatives. He presently is not able to enter the United States. He doesn’t have a visa, and I know that that process is being worked through. We certainly wish him the best of luck with that, and we’ll definitely welcome him back if he’s able to straighten out those legal issues.”
The 54-year-old Cabrera, who served 30 months in prison in Brazil and Argentina and last played the Masters in 2019, had his visa expire this month but is attempting to regain his ability to be permitted entry to the U.S. and elsewhere.
“While competing in the Masters again is a dream, securing a visa is Angel’s priority at the moment so he can resume his professional career,” his manager, Manuel Tagle, wrote in an email to Golfweek. “We are working on getting an appointment with the U.S. Embassy in Argentina. Probably early March as his visa has expired January 2024.”
Cabrera is set to make his return to PGA Tour Champions at the Trophy Hasan II from Feb. 22-24 at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam in Rabat, Morocco. Cabrera doesn’t need a visa to travel to Northern Africa to play there. The PGA Tour Champions previously said his suspension had been uplifted and he was welcome to play there.
“He’s been gone for three years and served time in jail and had time for personal reflection,” PGA Tour Champions President Miller Brady told Golfweek. “It’s a bit like Jim Thorpe, who spent time in jail (for tax evasion) and was welcomed back. It’s a little different. I don’t know if he can travel in the United States because he needs a visa. I think guys forgive. I’m not sure if spouses will forgive, that’s the bigger question. But he has the right to play.”
The week after Morocco, Cabrera is expected to play in the Visa Argentina Open in Buenos Aires at Olivos Golf Club, which is being conducted for the first time as a tournament on the Korn Ferry Tour.
Golfweek also has confirmed that Cabrera has received an exemption to play in the Insperity Invitational in Houston in early May should he be granted a visa.
Cabrera played his first professional event in December since being released from jail on Aug. 4 after he completed more than two years in custody over gender violence cases against two of his ex-girlfriends. Cabrera finished T-10 at Abierto del Litoral, or the Coast Open, a tournament held in his native Argentina that has been a fixture on the PGA Tour Latinoamerica Developmental Series.
However, don’t expect the Masters to change anything for 2024.
On Thursday, Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley and R&A CEO Martin Slumbers spoke with members of the media Thursday at Royal Melbourne in Australia at the 2023 Asia-Pacific Amateur, a tournament where the winner receives an exemption to the Masters and Open Championship.
Ridley said the criteria isn’t changing for the 2024 Masters.
“If you look back over the history of the Masters Tournament and the qualifications that existed, we have changed those qualifications numerous times, dozens of times,” Ridley said. “We look at those every year. We don’t make changes every year, but we do look at them under the current circumstances.
“As you recall last year, there was some speculation as to whether or not we would invite LIV golfers, and we stayed true to our qualification criteria and we invited everyone who was eligible. Our qualifications are very much dynamic and we adjust to what we feel is the best interests of the tournament representing the best players in the world, so we always look at that.”
The three changes for the Masters in 2024 were inviting the NCAA individual champion, winners of FedEx Cup point-awarding fall events and a tweak to the wording of the Tour Championship qualification.
The Masters normally invites the top 50 in the OWGR as well as past champions, PGA Tour winners and high finishers from other major championships.
Meanwhile, Slumbers said the R&A is reviewing its qualification criteria, which will be released early next year. However, Slumbers said recent conversations about exemption categories have been completely off the mark.
“I think it’s very important that we don’t lose sight of the fact that The Open is intended to be open to everybody, but you earn your place in the field and through exemptions and that won’t change,” Slumbers said.
There was a follow-up question specifically naming Talor Gooch, who won the LIV individual championship and made more than $35 million this year. However, he is not eligible for any majors in 2024 and sits outside the top 200 in the OWGR.
“(LIV golfers) made decisions based on what they thought was in the best interests of their golf careers, and we certainly respect that,” Ridley said. “We do have in our invitation criteria, it does say that we reserve the right to invite special exemptions to international players, although we did issue a special exemption to an amateur (Gordon Sargent) last year. So we are always looking at that.
“But these decisions have been made, and we’ll have to do what’s in the best interests of the Masters and we’ll continue to do that.”
Added Slumbers: “From my perspective, without getting into detail, there are plenty of opportunities for any player in the world who thinks they are good enough to have a chance to qualify and play in The Open Championship irrespective of which tour they are participating on, and that will not change.”
Twenty-two days after the governing bodies sounded the bugle in a battle for the future of golf, the cavalry arrived at Augusta.
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Twenty-two days after the governing bodies sounded the bugle in a battle for the future of golf, the cavalry arrived on Wednesday at Augusta National.
It was March 14 when the USGA and R&A proposed a modified local rule that, if adopted, would introduce a limited-distance ball at the elite level. The timing wasn’t accidental. It accommodated three weeks of predictable histrionics, warnings, bluster and social media carping from every constituency: Tour players, architecture nerds, equipment manufacturers, invested observers, armchair analysts, media partners and influential shills. Which was just enough time for the smoke to begin clearing before what will likely prove the decisive contribution in a long-smoldering and sulfurous debate:
“We have been consistent in our support of the governing bodies, and we restate our desire to see distance addressed.”
“I’ve stated that we believe distance needs to be addressed,” Ridley said. “I think the natural conclusion is, yes, we will be supportive.”
So when theory becomes practice — on Jan. 1, 2026, when the proposed change would take effect — the 90th Masters will be the first major championship contested with a modified ball. It will be followed that same year by the Opens, U.S. and British, since the governing bodies who run those events have made clear they will exercise their own option. What odds the PGA Championship — ever mindful of being perceived as the runt of the major litter — will diminish itself by choosing to separate itself further on the ball issue? Your move, Mr. Waugh.
Having every major conducted with a modified ball will test the willingness of Tour players to switch equipment from their weekly money games for events that actually define legacies. When the whining is exhausted — admittedly, this might take until Dec. 31, 2025 — the professional proletariat will reconcile itself to the new reality. Without Wednesday’s unambiguous signal from Ridley, the future landscape would look a lot more uncertain. His words lend support to the governing bodies, clarity to the future, and no succor to the smash bros.
Housekeeping matters included announcing that the NCAA champion will receive an invitation to compete in the Masters and explaining why an invitation to attend was not extended to Greg Norman, the commissar of LIV Golf. It was akin to asking grandpa why his Thanksgiving guest list is missing a former friend who promised to break the furniture, insulted the decor and announced plans for his friends to hold a celebratory kegger on your lawn.
Ridley replied that he wanted the focus to be on the Masters, not on the Saudi-financed civil war roiling golf (which is considerably less deadly than the one they’re funding in Yemen). He added that Norman has only been here twice in the past decade, including once while working as an announcer. What of Norman’s recent grouse that he might never be invited back to Augusta National?
“It’s hard to answer that question because, you know, I don’t know where the world is going to be next year or two years from now,” Ridley said, the kind of equivocation that constitutes a drive-by in the parlance of Augusta National. “I would never say never. But I told you why he had not been invited this year.”
[gambcom-standard rankid=”3413″ ]
Crude translation for the flaxen-haired finger puppet: faff around and find out.
Nor would the Chairman be drawn on whether changes will be made to Masters invitation criteria that would make it tougher for LIV players to qualify — unsurprising since LIV is dispensing subpoenas in a failing effort to prove golf’s bodies are conspiring against it.
“I’m sure there will be changes in the future, but none beyond what I announced this morning,” he finally offered.
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Augusta National’s reverence for past Masters champions makes exclusion of LIV golfers impossible. Six attended the Champions Dinner on Tuesday. The other twelve competing this week will find future access tougher as their world ranking slips, a trend likely to accelerate due to an imminent – and unappealable – decision by a sports arbitration panel in the UK that will effectively lock LIV players out of DP World Tour events. That means LIV guys who want to earn ranking points will need to familiarize themselves with the Asian Tour schedule, where even wins yield paltry ranking points given the shallow talent pool participating.
As clearly as Ridley endorsed the governing bodies’ authority to regulate distance, he was equally direct in defending the Official World Golf Ranking system, which has been under a sustained assault by Norman and his mealy-mouthed marionettes, who insist LIV tournaments must be awarded points despite meeting almost none of the established criteria to be recognized.
“It’s an objective criteria based on data-driven analytics, and it’s consistently applied,” Ridley said. “I think most would agree it’s a good system.”
Ridley is a traditionalist’s idea of a company man, the type of chap who, in the words of E.B. White, winds the clock daily in a contribution toward order and steadfastness. His fealty to golf’s established order and to the values of the game in which he has spent a lifetime are unshakeable. It’s accepted that he’s the unchallenged authority within the walls of Augusta National. The intent he signaled Wednesday will go some way to proving that the influence of his position extends over a much greater realm.
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