When Joaquín Niemann walked off the 18th green in darkness as winner of the LIV Golf Mayakoba title earlier this month, his initial reaction didn’t so much concern his first title on the Saudi-funded tour or the accompanying $4 million winner’s check. He was thinking about the major championships and the fact that he wasn’t eligible.
A LIV victory amid the absence of world-ranking points got him no closer to that goal, he acknowledged.
“I want to win majors, but I’ve got to get in first,” Niemann said after outlasting Sergio García on the fourth hole of a sudden-death playoff.
Global Golf Post’s Scott Michaux made the case for Niemann to receive a special exemption earlier this month, writing in GGP+ that he “fits all the criteria to warrant consideration.”
Augusta National agreed. Niemann, 25, of Chile, was one of three players to accept special international exemptions offered for the 88th Masters, to be played April 11-14. Denmark’s Thorbjørn Olesen and Japan’s Ryo Hisatsune also accepted invitations, boosting the field size to 83. (Two-time champion Bernhard Langer of Germany is no longer listed among qualified players expected to compete as he recovers from a torn Achilles tendon.)
“The Masters Tournament has a long-standing tradition of inviting leading international players who are not otherwise qualified,” club chairman Fred Ridley said in a statement issued Wednesday. “Today’s announcement represents the tournament’s continued commitment towards developing interest in the game of golf across the world.”
LIV was not mentioned in Augusta National’s news release, nor was American Talor Gooch, who won three LIV titles last year but nonetheless has plummeted to No. 427 in the world. He stood at No. 35 in the world when he played in LIV’s inaugural event in June 2022.
Niemann, who debuted in the Masters in 2018 as the reigning Latin America Amateur champion, is a two-time PGA Tour winner who has made the cut in three of four starts at Augusta. He claimed the Australian Open in December but has slipped to No. 81 in the Official World Golf Ranking. He had been ranked 18th upon signing with LIV in September 2022.
Olesen, 34, who is No. 59 in the world, tied for sixth in his 2013 Masters debut and has made the cut in three starts at Augusta. He won the DP World Tour’s Ras Al Khaimah Championship last month.
Hisatsune, 21, was named the DP World Tour’s 2023 rookie of the year after winning the French Open. He is No. 78 in the world.
Byeong Hun An, who is No. 43 in the world, is the only player currently among the top 50 who does not have a spot in the Masters. The road toward Augusta is narrowing. Winners of PGA Tour events that award full points and the top 50 of the OWGR as of the April 1 update still can earn invitations. READ MORE
Augusta National quietly added 10 yards to the second hole, extending and shifting the tee to the golfers’ left on the sweeping downhill right-to-left par-5. At 585 yards, “Pink Dogwood” is the longest hole on the course.
No announcement was made, but the change was revealed with the release of the Masters’ online media guide last week.
Augusta National, which hosted the inaugural Masters in 1934 at 6,700 yards, has been pushing back against the creeping distance gains in golf with persistent tweaks to stretch the course. Last year, a new tee box at the 13th hole lengthened the iconic par-5 at Amen Corner by 35 yards, to 545.
The latest change will make the par-72 layout play 7,555 yards.
Ángel Cabrera, recently paroled from prison in his native Argentina, appears to be on a competitive comeback that could lead to his first start in the Masters since 2019.
Cabrera, 54, the 2009 Masters champion, played his first PGA Tour-sanctioned tournament in 3½ years when he competed in the PGA Tour Champions’ Trophy Hassan II in Morocco last week. He posted progressively better scores of 79-72-70 and tied for 27th in the 66-man field. Cabrera also is entered into this week’s Argentina Open on the Korn Ferry Tour via a sponsor exemption.
His status for the Masters remains uncertain, though Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley said last month that Cabrera would be welcomed provided that he can obtain a visa to travel to the U.S. On the Masters website, Cabrera is listed among 17 players under the heading of “past champions not playing.” Cabrera will meet with officials in Buenos Aires next week to appeal for a travel visa, according to a source.
Cabrera was imprisoned in Argentina for 26 months on two separate convictions of domestic violence against former girlfriends before being paroled in August.
U.S. captain Stacy Lewis named four assistants for the 2024 Solheim Cup against Europe’s top female professionals, the LPGA announced.
Paula Creamer, Brittany Lincicome, Morgan Pressel and Angela Stanford – all multiple LPGA champions who have competed in the Solheim Cup – will aid Lewis in the September 13-15 matches at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville, Virginia. Pressel and Stanford worked on Lewis’ staff during a 14-14 tie last year at Finca Cortesín in Spain, where Europe retained the cup as the defending champion. Creamer and Lincicome will be assistants for the first time.
The U.S. leads the series, 10-7-1, but has not won since 2017 in a biennial match that returns to even-numbered years. READ MORE and MORE
TAP-INS
The Match IX, a 12-hole skins match featuring the PGA Tour’s Rory McIlroy and Max Homa and the LPGA’s Lexi Thompson and Rose Zhang, will be played at 6:30 p.m. today under the lights at The Park West Palm, a Gil Hanse-Jim Wagner creation on the site of the former West Palm Beach Golf Course. The Match IX will be aired live on TNT. READ MORE and MORE
The Hong Kong Open will be played November 21-24 at Hong Kong Golf Club in Fanling, the Asian Tour announced. The 63rd HKO, with a $2 million prize fund, will be part of the tour’s 10-event International Series and provide a pathway onto the LIV Golf League. READ MORE
The G4D Tour will make its U.S. debut in conjunction with the PGA Tour’s CJ Cup Byron Nelson on April 29-30 during tournament week at TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney, Texas. The G4D Tour, operated by the DP World Tour and the EDGA (formerly the European Disabled Golf Association), promotes golf for the disabled and will feature nine tournaments in six countries this year. READ MORE
Tony Finau won another legal round when the Utah Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal of a breach-of-contract lawsuit filed against the PGA Tour player. READ MORE
Trading cards of LIV Golf players will be available for the first time this season as the tour announced a multiyear deal with the Panini Group. READ MORE
PGA Tour Americas announced six qualifying tournaments this spring to determine membership beginning in June on the developmental tour. READ MORE
Compiled by Steve Harmon