sport news Masters 2024: With Jon Rahm, Brooks Koepka and red-hot Joaquin Niemann, LIV ... trends now
There was at one point last summer a hope that by the time the game's best players were arriving down Magnolia Lane once again that the great divide would have healed itself.
Fast forward nine months and LIV Golf's rebels are clashing with their PGA Tour counterparts once again with tensions just as high - and this time, they come with even more of a threat.
Talks between the PGA Tour and the PIF continue around a merger, but it's the Saudi-backed circuit who have proved themselves to be the ultimate poker player.
LIV gambled big again in its offseason over the winner, splashing out $500million to lure reigning Masters champion Jon Rahm to its plight, but the big-money wager could pay off at Augusta National.
Greg Norman's band of merry men will rock up to Augusta for the second year since tearing the golfing world in two. Except this year, they won't be scoffed at. This time they come with a spring in their step.
LIV Golf's rebels return to Augusta National as even more of a threat to The Masters this year
Last year, Brooks Koepka came so close to landing LIV its first major win at Augusta National
There are five less defectors in the field compared to last year's 18 and yet the rebel circuit will feel increasingly confident that one of its own will be slipping into the Green Jacket come Sunday. Just ask them.
'I don't know, obviously chances are pretty good,' Koepka told reporters when asked if he believes a rebel can win The Masters ahead of the circuit's event at Trump Doral National last week.
'There's a lot of good players. I don't know how many guys are in the field. Usually about 90, right? Usually about 90 [it's 88 this year]. So, you know, probably got, what, 15 percent?'
Koepka turned to DeChambeau: 'You're better at math and numbers.'
'Something like that -- it's 15 to 20 [percent],' DeChambeau responded.
Koepka and DeChambeau can whip out their calculators and deliberate over the math as much as they like, but the only numbers fans - and the PGA Tour - need to crunch are the rebel's finishes from last year's major.
LIV boasted nine major winners - including six former winners - in its legion of rebels that marched down Magnolia Lane last year and disrupted the peace and quiet of the Cathedral of Pines.
The circuit - honoring its 'Gold but louder' motto - certainly made noise as three of its players, Koepka, Phil Mickelson and Patrick Reed, finished in the top five.
Koepka, Phil Mickelson (pictured left) and Patrick Reed all finished in the top five in 2023
And the cherry on top? One of their own had the PGA Tour holding its breath as Koepka came so close to claiming the Green Jacket as his own.
It debunked the theory that they wouldn't be able to return to the reality of golf on the rolling fairways of Augusta National after swanning around resort courses in shorts for a year.
And that was before they even had Rahm. Now they're back and more threatening than ever.
Rahm became the fourth Spaniard to win The Masters after he emerged from a nerve-shredding duel with Koepka around Amen Corner with four-stroke victory a year ago.
In the buildup to last year's tournament, Rahm had been one to touch upon the potential frosty atmosphere of the Champions Dinner, where past winners from both sides of golf's civil war were expected to wave the white flag for the sake of tradition.
'I think the Masters Champions Dinner's going to be a little tense compared to how it's been in the past' he said.
Flash Forward 12 months and Rahm walked into his own Champions Dinner Tuesday night a rebel himself. And 'tense' may be an understatement given Tiger Woods' silent treatment towards the Spaniard.
Arguably the greatest weapon in LIV's arsenal, the Legion XIII captain is coming into Augusta red-hot with four top-ten finishes through the first five
