AUGUSTA, Ga. — And then there were five.
LIV Golf’s smallest Masters Tournament representation was sliced in half on Friday, with only five players making the cut to play the weekend at Augusta National.
They are led by England’s Tyrrell Hatton, who turned in the second-lowest round of the day with a 6-under-par 66. Teeing off at 9:31 a.m. at 2 over for the tournament, Hatton surged up the leaderboard with seven birdies. He was tied with the overnight leaders at 5 under before dropping a shot on the final hole.
Still, it was Hatton’s best score in 34 rounds at Augusta National by two shots — and only the fourth time he broke 70.
“Today was a great day,” Hatton said. “Actually walking up 18, I was pretty confident that I couldn’t mess it up enough that I wouldn’t shoot my best score here. I mean, naturally I tried with a three-putt, so that was disappointing, to say the least.”
Still, it looked like his score might hold for the best of the day before Rory McIlroy ripped off six birdies over his final seven holes to post a 65. As it stands through 36 holes, Hatton sits in a tie for seventh place that’s eight shots off McIlroy’s lead.
It’s far better than most of his LIV Golf counterparts fared. The next best is Dustin Johnson at even par.
The only other ones to make the cut were Sergio Garcia at 3 over and Jon Rahm and Charl Schwartzel, who made the cut on the number at 4 over.
Bryson DeChambeau reached the 18th hole needing only a bogey to play the weekend, but he suffered a triple bogey to fall back to 6 over. It was the second triple bogey of the week for DeChambeau, who also carded one on the 11th hole Thursday when it took him three attempts to get out of a green-side bunker.
Two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson was also in position to make the cut until he missed an 18-foot par put on his final hole.
LIV GOLF SCORES THROUGH 36 HOLES
–Tyrrell Hatton: T7, -4
–Dustin Johnson: T24, E
–Sergio Garcia: T45, +3
–Jon Rahm: T47, +4
–Charl Schwartzel: T47, +4
–Bubba Watson: +5
–Bryson DeChambeau: +6
–Tom McKibbin: +7
–Cameron Smith: +7
–Carlos Ortiz: +11
Hatton said he doesn’t believe there is any adjustment needed for LIV players to prepare for the Masters or any other major.
“It’s another tournament that you’re at. You go on to the next hole, and you try your best,” Hatton said. “Wherever you play, whatever the tournament is, you’re always giving it your best, and you’re trying to prepare in a way to give yourself a chance to win the tournament.
“I don’t think anyone that’s playing this week would change anything. That would be my guess. But yeah, every tournament you play, you’re trying to win. This week is no different in that sense.”
The Saudi-backed league already had its fewest number of qualified players before Phil Mickelson withdrew last week due to a family health matter. The number has declined each year since LIV Golf’s inaugural 2022 season, with 18 of the league’s players qualifying for the Masters in 2023.
There were 13 players at Augusta in 2024 and 12 last year. This year’s number was directly impacted by the recent LIV Golf departures of Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed. Joaquin Niemann did not receive an invitation after being offered a special invite each of the past two years.
Reed enters the weekend tied for second at 6 under. Koepka shares 13th at 3 under.
–Derek Harper, Field Level Media
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