Much was made of the LIV golfers at this year's Masters.
Do they play 'real' golf? Will they be rusty having played fewer tournaments? Just how badly affected have they been by missing out on the likes of Riviera, Bay Hill, TPC Sawgrass and Austin Country Club?
Well, as I said earlier in the week, it's ridiculous to rule them out. Masters week saw some of them play badly - six of the 18 missed the cut - as well as two of them withdrawing, but a LIV player nearly won The Masters with two of them finishing T2nd behind Jon Rahm.
Brooks Koepka held the 54-hole lead but a poor display on Sunday afternoon saw him overtaken and left behind by Rahm. A sensational 65 from Phil Mickelson tied him at eight-under-par, with Koepka eventually signing for a closing 75.
Cameron Smith rallied the LIV troops pre-tournament by saying they need to play well, and the Aussie, Champion Golfer of the Year at St Andrews last July, looked like he was going to do his part with a two-under-par 70 on Thursday but his challenge fell away over the final three days.
A total of four LIV players finished under par, with 2018 Masters winner Patrick Reed posting an impressive T4th finish at seven-under and Joaquin Niemann at two-under in T16th.
There were 18 LIV players in the field starting the week, but only 16 completed two weather-delayed rounds after Kevin Na withdrew following his front nine due to illness and Louis Oosthuizen also withdrew on Saturday. An impressive 12 LIV players made the Masters cut.
Take a look at the final LIV Golf leaderboard below to see how they got on in the 87th Masters...
LIV Players' scores at the 2023 Masters:
- -8 Brooks Koepka, Phil Mickelson (T2)
- -7 Patrick Reed (T4)
- -2 Joaquin Niemann (T16)
- +1 Harold Varner III (T29)
- +4 Cameron Smith, Talor Gooch (T34)
- +5 Abraham Ancer (T39)
- +6 Mito Pereira (T43)
- +8 Thomas Pieters, Dustin Johnson, Charl Schwartzel (T48)
- MISSED THE CUT:
- +4 Bryson DeChambeau
- +7 Sergio Garcia
- +8 Jason Kokrak
- +9 Bubba Watson
- WD Kevin Na, Louis Oosthuizen
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