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The main storyline for the 87th Masters was Jon Rahm making a fourth-round comeback and finishing at 12-under par en route to capturing his second major championship.
Another hot topic for the week was the Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Tour’s members being allowed to play in the Masters after being barred from last year’s tournament.
Many golf analysts and media members have criticized the LIV Tour’s quality and predicted the players would finish poorly in majors.
Phil Mickelson and Brooks Koepka led the LIV players as they finished in a tie for second at 8-under par, four strokes behind Rahm. Fellow competitor, Patrick Reed (-7), finished in a tie for fourth.
How did LIV players do at the Masters?
Contents
In total, 18 LIV golfers participated in the Masters. Below are their full results. Notable performances will be showcased later in this article.
LIV Performances
- T2 Brooks Koepka (-8)
- T2 Phil Mickelson (-8)
- T4 Patrick Reed (-7)
- T16 Joaquin Niemann (-2)
- T29 Harold Varner III (+1)
- T34 Talor Gooch (+4)
- T34 Cameron Smith (+4)
- T39 Abraham Ancer (+5)
- T43 Mito Pereira (+6)
- T48 Dustin Johnson (+8)
- T48 Thomas Pieters (+8)
- T50 Charl Schwartzel (+9)
- T56 Bryson DeChambeau (Missed the cut)
- T70 Sergio Garcia (Missed the cut)
- T76 Jason Kokrak (Missed the cut)
- T79 Bubba Watson (Missed the cut)
- Withdraw: Louis Oosthuizen
- Withdraw: Kevin Na
Louis Oosthuizen and Kevin Na withdrew due to undisclosed injuries. Oosthuizen withdrew for the second consecutive Masters and didn’t return for round two when play resumed Saturday morning. Na withdrew after his front nine on Thursday.
Notable finishers
Three LIV golfers finished in the top 4, and 12 made the cut.
Brooks Koepka (T2)
The four-time major winner was the co-leader after 54 holes with a two-stroke lead over Rahm. A 3-over par 75 on Sunday doomed his chances at hoisting another major trophy. Koepka carded six bogeys and two birdies as he struggled to hit greens and make putts.
When holding a 54-hole lead, the West Palm Beach, Florida native had been 3-for-3 in closing out major championships.
Players to be -12 or better through 36 holes of a men’s major championship and not win:
Greg Norman, 1990 Open
Greg Norman, 1996 Masters
Brooks Koepka, 2023 Masters— Justin Ray (@JustinRayGolf) April 9, 2023
Koepka said after his round he feels fully healthy again after dealing with injuries the last two seasons. He also stated earlier in the tournament he isn’t sure he would’ve defected to the LIV Tour had he played this well at the time of his offer.
Last week, Koepka won the LIV Golf Invitational Orlando and has two wins on the tour in his previous five starts.
Phil Mickelson (T2)
The 52-year-old ended his string of poor results with a red-hot seven-under par finish during his final round at Augusta National.
The three-time Masters winner finished his back nine in 31 strokes with five birdies and four pours. This included back-to-back birdies on holes 13 and 14 as well as 17 and 18.
Phil Mickelson has entered the chat. pic.twitter.com/BdWHOYOdye
— Golf Digest (@GolfDigest) April 9, 2023
Mickelson’s score of 65 is the best score by a player over 50 years of age during a final round at the Masters. It is also his lowest final round at the tournament in 30 starts.
Patrick Reed (T4)
The 2018 Green Jacket winner opened his round with a double-bogey seven on the par-5 second hole but bounced back with eight birdies to shoot a final-round 68.
The Texan now has four Top 10s in four of his last six starts at Augusta.
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