Rahm leads field of Masters champions at LIV Golf Miami

From a Correspondent

Miami: LIV Golf Miami will provide a sneak peek of the year’s first major as defending Masters champion Jon Rahm and six other past winners take on the Blue Monster at Trump National Doral from  April 5 to 7. 

The fifth tournament of the 2024 schedule will feature 13 LIV Golf players scheduled to compete at Augusta National the following week, including past champions Phil Mickelson (2004, 2006, 2010), Charl Schwartzel (2011), Bubba Watson (2012, 2014), Sergio Garcia (2017), Patrick Reed (2018), and Dustin Johnson (2020).

Additionally, the red-hot Joaquin Niemann, who has already captured two LIV Golf individual titles this season, will compete that week.

Others include five-time major winner Brooks Koepka, 2022 Open champion Cameron Smith, 2020 US Open winner Bryson DeChambeau, England star Tyrrell Hatton and 2023 DP World Tour Player of the Year Adrian Meronk in their quest for a green jacket.

The field at Doral will not only feature the reigning Masters champion, but four of the top six finishers from 2023, including Koepka and Mickelson, who finished tied for second, and Reed, who tied for fourth.

Rahm’s elite performance has continued in his debut season with LIV Golf, where he is currently second in the individual standings behind Niemann, the Torque GC captain who is excited for the test ahead in Miami. 

“It’s a great track,” said Niemann of the Blue Monster. “It’s one of the toughest courses we play around the world.

Testing track

“It has everything – you’ve got to hit it long, you’ve got to hit it straight, you’ve got to hit greens and you’ve got to do everything right to have a great week. It pushes you a lot.”

Third in the individual points race is Johnson, who will look to replicate his title success in Las Vegas while being chased closely by a pack of global stars including Paul Casey, Abraham Ancer, Talor Gooch, DeChambeau, Smith and Louis Oosthuizen.

“We’re playing Trump National Doral, which is a fantastic golf course,” said Johnson.

“I feel like it will be good preparation going into Augusta – it’s tough, it’s long and you have to use all your clubs in your bag. Anytime you’re playing a challenging golf course going into a major, it’s going be good prep.”

In the team standings, Crushers GC – winners of the last two team events – sit in first place ahead of Torque GC, Smash GC, Legion XIII and Stinger GC as they get set to return to Doral, site of the Crushers’ 2023 Team Championship victory.

LIV X members can also have a direct say in who plays together in Miami by voting on which three of LIV Golf’s seven Masters champions they want to see grouped together for Round One of LIV Golf Miami.

Sign up to do so is free and will result in an email invitation to select the preferred player groupings, with the top three player selections to play together on April 5. (courtesy LIV Golf)

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