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Defending Masters champion Scottie Scheffler did not mince words when asked about getting ready to face players from LIV Golf at Augusta National in three weeks.
“I definitely miss the competition,” Scheffler said Wednesday during the annual virtual press conference for the reigning Green Jacket holder.
The four men’s major championships remain the only tournament fields that feature the majority of top players from the PGA Tour and LIV Golf; starting April 10, the Masters will be the first time since the Open Championship last July that the sport’s best players will be in the same field.
Last week, ahead of the Players Championship, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said there was still no concrete deadline for a deal to be reached with LIV’s financial backers at the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia.
Scheffler pointed to LIV for answers as to why the re-unification process for men’s golf is taking so long. “If we want to figure out why the game of golf is not back together, go ask those guys,” he said. “Go to wherever they are playing this week and figure out when the game is going to come back together.”
Despite his bluntness, Scheffler will relish the opportunity to play against LIV players at the Masters—particualrly 2023 winner Jon Rahm. “I was definitely surprised to see him leave last year and I for sure miss playing against him,” Scheffler said.
In 2024, Rahm won two LIV events and the $18 million season-long points race, but only played in three majors (he missed the U.S. Open due to a toe injury). He missed the cut at the PGA Championship, finished T45 at the Masters, and his best finish was T7 at The Open. The 2025 Masters purse has not yet been released, but last year it was $20 million, and Scheffler’s first-place prize was $3.6 million.
“I wish he got to do it more often,” Scheffler said of Rahm playing against PGA Tour players. “But [I] definitely will soak in all the opportunities that I get to compete against him going forward.”
Ultimately, Scheffler is content, even if he misses what used to be.
“I wish some of those guys had stayed, but at the end of the day, they made their choice,” Scheffler said. “They knew the consequences of that decision.”
