11 Big Name LIV Golfers Not In This Week's Masters Field

There are 13 LIV Golfers in The Masters field this year, which is five fewer than 2023.

The number has reduced due to the Saudi PIF-backed league not having access to world ranking points, meaning the field is mostly made up of Major champions, PGA Tour winners and those inside the world's top 50. 

The likes of Sergio Garcia, Phil Mickelson and defending champion Jon Rahm are amongst the LIV Golfers to have won The Masters, while Major champions like Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau and Cameron Smith are also qualified.

This year's two-time LIV winner, and arguably one of golf's most in-form players, Joaquin Niemann received a special invite into the field but plenty of big name LIV golfers will be watching at home due to missing the entry qualification criteria.

We take a look at the big LIV Golf names missing this week's Masters...

Big Name LIV Golfers Not In The 2024 Masters

Louis Oosthuizen

The South African famously made an albatross on the par 5 2nd in 2012, where he eventually lost to Bubba Watson in 'that' playoff where the left-hander hit a sensational hooked wedge shot from the trees.

Oosthuizen won back-to-back DP World Tour titles towards the end of last year - the Alfred Dunhill Championship and Mauritius Open - but it wasn't enough to move him inside the world's top 50 or receive an invite like Niemann did. 

It means the 2010 Open champion, who has runner-up finishes in all four Majors, is missing his first Masters in 16 years.

Talor Gooch

The 2023 LIV Golf League individual champion picked up the $18m title and won three times but hasn't been able to qualify for Augusta due to LIV's lack of world ranking points.

Gooch recently made headlines after suggesting that a McIlroy grand slam win could require an 'asterisk' due to the number of LIV players missing.

The Oklahoman has played in the last two Masters, finishing T14 on his debut in 2022 and T34 last year.

Abraham Ancer

The Mexican star recently captured his first LIV Golf League title in Hong Kong, where he made birdie in a playoff to defeat Cameron Smith and Paul Casey.

Ancer, who is also a WGC winner as well as a past Australian Open and Saudi International champion, is missing his first Masters since 2019 and faces a Major-less year for the first time since 2017 due to his plummeting world ranking.

Paul Casey

Casey has a sneakily good Augusta record but he is missing his third consecutive Masters this week.

The Englishman, who has enjoyed a strong start to the 2024 LIV Golf League season, has five top-10s at The Masters including a three-year run of T6-T4-6 between 2015 and 2017.

He's currently outside of the top 500 in the world rankings so needs some great results in non-LIV events over the next 12 months to book his return.

Lee Westwood

Westwood held the 54-hole lead in 2010 before losing to Phil Mickelson in the final group, and that was one of two runners-up finishes after also finishing 2nd to Danny Willett in 2016.

The former World No.1 has made 21 Masters appearances in his career, with six top-10 finishes.

Ian Poulter

Westwood's Majesticks GC co-captain Ian Poulter missed just one cut in 16 Masters appearances.

His best finish of T6 came in 2015 and he was also 7th in 2012 and T10th in 2010. He misses his third consecutive Masters this week. 

Henrik Stenson

The third Majesticks GC co-captain Henrik Stenson never seemed to thrive at Augusta, although he did manage a T5 in 2018, his best result in 16 Masters starts.

The Swede, who won the 2016 Open at this year's host venue Royal Troon, is another to be missing his third consecutive trip to Augusta.

Thomas Pieters

Pieters joined LIV Golf in early 2023 and knew that it could potentially be his final Masters appearance.

"I took my parents here because it could be my last one. That's just being realistic," he said at Augusta last year. The Belgian was T4th in his Masters debut in 2017 and has played the Major four times in his career.

He's currently outside of the world's top 300 so who knows when his next appearance will be.

Matthew Wolff

The former amateur star burst onto the scene as NCAA champion and won in just his third pro start.

He joined LIV Golf in 2022 and, like many others, has seen his world ranking plummet. He is now outside of the world's top 800 and misses this week's Major for the second consecutive year.

His Masters career has been a disappointment so far, with two missed cuts and a disqualification in three appearances.

Harold Varner III

The 4Aces GC player teed it up in the 2022 and 2023 Masters, finishing inside the top-30 in both.

He is the second-highest-finisher in the 2023 LIV Golf League (7th) to not be playing this week. Varner currently sits outside of the world's top 400, so his next appearance at Augusta could be some time away.

Mito Pereira

The Chilean, who so nearly won the 2022 PGA Championship but for a heartbreaking final hole double bogey, finished 8th in the LIV Golf League last year.

Pereira isn't in the field this week, though, meaning he doesn't get to make his second Masters appearance. He played last year and finished T43rd.