The 18 LIV players headed to Augusta for the Masters don’t fear frosty reception

Even the Masters chairman suggested LIV players have divided golf, but Greg Norman’s rebels are ready to head to Augusta anyway.

Cameron Smith will join the LIV contingent at Augusta. Picture: Christian Petersen/Getty Images/AFP

Visits to Augusta for practice rounds by LIV players, including former Masters champions, have helped thaw any perceived ice, but 2018 winner Patrick Reed couldn’t dismiss the notion a win would be a major boost for the new tour.

Eighteen LIV players, currently in Orlando for the third event of Greg Norman’s breakaway tour’s second season, will head to Augusta next week for the year’s first major amid expectations of a frosty reception.

The Masters, as with the British Open, has kept the door open for LIV players, including Australian Cameron Smith, to ensure there’s no asterisk against the winner’s name as the golf world tries to find a new equilibrium.

Even that announcement from Augusta chairman Fred Ridley painted a picture of concern with the current landscape and the players involved.

“Regrettably, recent actions have divided men’s professional golf by diminishing the virtues of the game and the meaningful legacies of those who built it,” he said.

“Our focus is to honour the tradition of bringing together a pre-eminent field of golfers.”

There are six former Masters champions on the LIV roster, including Reed, Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia, Charl Schwartzel and Bubba Watson, with some having already ventured to Augusta for practice ahead of next week’s event.

LIV players Sergio Garcia and Patrick Reed are both Masters champions. Picture: Patrick Smith/Getty Images

Adamant the angst is a media construct and there is no frostiness between the LIV players and their PGA Tour rivals, Reed said with a major championship at stake, there was no use wasting energy on anything other than preparing to win.

“The storylines are going to be obviously LIV versus PGA Tour and all that kind of stuff, but really at the majors, that’s all the guys that come in, top players in the world are going and playing against each other no matter where they come from,” Reed said in Orlando.

“It doesn’t matter what tour they’re on or anything; it’s the top guys going and trying to play for one of the most coveted events in the world.

“For us, at least for myself, it‘s going to be business as usual going out and playing.

“Would I like to have LIV be up at the top? Of course, but really at the end of the day, it’s all of us going in there and just trying to play the best golf we can.”

Watson, a two-time Masters winner, said there was no sense of the LIV guys against the rest, having even spoken to Aussie Jason Day about playing together.

Nor was he actively hoping only a LIV player won.

“I‘m trying to beat them all. Just saying,” he said.

“I‘ve talked to people that are going to be there. I’m going to sign up with Jason Day and Cam Young in the par-3. Some guys have already asked me to play some practice rounds.

“I have nothing against anybody. If you change jobs, I’m not mad at you. If you start reporting for somebody else, hey, man, it’s a better decision for you and your family.”

Bubba Watson is a two-time Masters winner. Picture: Andrew Redington/Getty Images/AFP

But four-time major winner Brooks Koepka said there was no doubt a LIV win at Augusta would be a big victory for the new tour.

“If you win a major, that’s a pretty damn good statement,” he said.

“Look, anytime you win the Masters, it‘s going to be a big boost off the golf course for you. I don’t care who you are.

“That would be a massive, massive boost for any team, player, individual, whatever. It doesn‘t matter what it is, it’s going to be a big boost.”