The Masters stage is set at Augusta National as 88 of the best players in the world look to take home one of those illustrious Green Jackets.
Among those 88, 13 LIV Golf players qualified. Interestingly, there are seven former Masters champions in that group.
The LIV Golfers teeing it up at the Masters this week are Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed, Carl Schwartzel, Cam Smith, Joaquin Niemann, Brooks Koepka, Bubba Watson, Bryson DeChambeau, Sergio Garcia, Adrian Meronk, Tyrrell Hatton and the defending champion Jon Rahm.
Last year, excluding Rahm, three LIV Golfers finished inside the top five — Koepka, Mickelson and Reed.
Will the LIV guys find success again in 2024?
Garcia posted a tweet suggesting he is confident one of them will be on top of the leaderboard on Championship Sunday.
Some questionably honorable mentions that could perform well at Augusta National this year are DeChambeau, Smith and Niemann.
But these are the three LIV players who will have the best chance at winning the Green Jacket.
3. Patrick Reed
The first person on this list is Reed. Despite being a hot-button topic in the golf world, one thing about him is that he plays Augusta National well. Reed is the first previous winner on this list.
He won in 2018, beating Rickie Fowler by one shot and Jordan Spieth by two.
Reed finished inside the top four in 2023, marking his fourth top 10 finish in the last six years. The 33-year-old also finished T18 at the PGA Championship in 2023.
He is another LIV Golf guy playing well right now, so if that correlates to Augusta National, he could be one to watch. Reed is an incredibly competitive guy, maybe too much so. Nevertheless, this tournament is special to him, so don’t count out Captain America.
2. Dustin Johnson
Johnson is the second former winner on this list. He took home his first Green Jacket in 2020 at the fall edition of The Masters. In a very light crowd, Johnson finally conquered this historic track by setting a tournament record at 20-under to win by five shots over Sungjae Im and Cam Smith.
This year marks Johnson’s 14th Masters appearance. He has finished inside the top 12 in six of his past eight starts.
Johnson is a two-time major winner after he prevailed in Oakmont at the 2016 U.S. Open. His game fits Augusta National well and he is also playing well right now. If he gets hot, a second Green Jacket could be his.
1. Brooks Koepka
Koepka has come close to winning his Green Jacket multiple times — as he has two runner-up finishes to Tiger Woods in 2019 and Jon Rahm last year.
He is making his ninth appearance at Augusta National. The former Florida State Seminole led most of last year’s Masters but couldn’t hold on to it on Sunday.
The 33-year-old left Augusta National with something to prove and did so at the next major championship.
Koepka won his fifth major and third PGA Championship at Oak Hill. His competitive edge in majors is why he is No. 1 on this list.
Despite not playing as often as the PGA Tour guys, it did not affect his ability last year, and it will not again in 2024.
Koepka wants the this tournament badly, and it’s finally his year to do so. If his game is where it needs to be, watch out — Brooks could bring down the hammer and win big.
Which of the 13 LIV Golf guys could win the 2024 Masters Tournament? Sound off in the comments.
SavannahNation’sichardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, be sure to follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.
