AUGUSTA, Ga. — Ninety-one players are scheduled to tee off at Augusta National in the 90th edition of the Masters Tournament on Thursday, but the final field includes only 10 members of LIV Golf.
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. The number has dwindled to 10 in 2026, 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.
However, there are two LIV players among the top five pre-tournament favorites and five former champions among their ranks at this year’s Masters. At least two LIV Golf players have finished in the top 10 of the Masters each of the past three years.
We rank each of their chances to don the green jacket come next Sunday.
BUBBA WATSON (+60000 at DraftKings)
Qualified By: Past Champion (2012, ‘14)
Watson has plummeted to 702nd in the Official World Golf Ranking due to a decline in play followed by finger surgery last October that ended his 2025 competitive season. The 47-year-old RangeGoats captain hasn’t finished better than T28 through the first five LIV events this year and is 48th in the points standings.
The two-time Masters champion can never be fully discounted at Augusta, where he finished T14 last year thanks to a final-round 68. But Watson missed the cut the previous year and has largely been a non-factor outside of LIV Golf events since being one of the league’s first signings in 2022.
CHARL SCHWARTZEL (+60000)
Qualified By: Past Champion (2011)
The South African rebounded from missing the cut two years ago to finish T36 at Augusta in 2025. Schwartzel, 41, did finish T10 at the International Series Morocco and T12 in the Philippines last year, but only played five events outside of LIV.
He rarely plays against elite fields these days, with the Masters being his lone major appearances over the past two years. Schwartzel’s best LIV finish so far in 2026 was a T17 in Adelaide.
DUSTIN JOHNSON (+24000)
Qualified By: Past Champion (2020)
After missing the cut in three of four majors and failing to win a LIV event last year, Johnson has begun to string together more positive results of late. That includes three finishes of T17 or better through five LIV events in 2026, although he still sits 26th in the points standings.
Now 41, Johnson has become one of the poster children for critics who claim elite players lured by lucrative contracts from the Saudis now lack the drive to remain at the top of the game (see: Cameron Smith, below). Johnson also missed the Masters cut in 2024 and hasn’t finished better than T23 while missing the cut in six of the past nine majors overall.
SERGIO GARCIA (+22500)
Qualified By: Past Champion (2017)
Garcia will be making his 103rd career start in a major, although there is little to suggest that he’ll be a real threat at Augusta. He has missed the Masters cut each of the past three years and has a lone top-15 finish on LIV this year.
The Fireballs GC captain finished T4 at the Bahrain Championship to begin 2026, but otherwise has rarely been a factor outside of LIV Golf over the past three years.
CARLOS ORTIZ (+26000)
Qualified By: Top 4 in 2025 U.S. Open (T4)
Ortiz has yet to find a podium on LIV Golf this year, but he has been solid with four finishes of T21 or better highlighted by a solo sixth in Hong Kong. This will mark only his second start at the Masters, where he missed the cut in 2021.
Ortiz, 34, tied for fourth at last year’s U.S. Open to punch his Augusta ticket for 2026. The Mexican star also won the International Series Macau in March 2025 and closed out last year with a T8 at the Australian Open.
TOM MCKIBBIN (+28000)
Qualified By: 2025 Hong Kong Open Champion
The former Rory McIlroy protege will make his Masters debut thanks to his seven-shot victory in Hong Kong last year. McKibbin is off to a slow LIV start, with his best finish a T17 at the season-opening Riyadh event, but the 23-year-old from Northern Ireland is considered one of the top young talents in the game.
McKibbin’s best major finish to date was a T41 at the 2024 U.S. Open and he likely needs some course knowledge before becoming a true threat to win at Augusta. But he also showed world-class form with his dominant win in Hong Kong, which followed a solo fourth on the DP World Tour in Spain.
CAMERON SMITH (+10000)
Qualified By: 2022 U.S. Open Champion
The good? Smith has five top-10 finishes in his past eight Masters starts. The bad? He missed the cut at Augusta for the first time last year. The ugly? The former World No. 2 missed seven consecutive cuts in non-LIV events — including all four majors — before claiming a runner-up finish in his native Australia in 2025.
Smith has shown an improvement in form with a pair of T8s on LIV this year, but he’s still a far cry from the player who finished T6 at Augusta just two years ago.
TYRRELL HATTON (+6900)
Qualified By: Top 4 in 2024 U.S. Open (T4)
The fiery Englishman’s famous lack of patience with himself on the course wouldn’t appear to suit Augusta, but Hatton has plenty of game to be a serious factor if he can put four solid rounds together. His best previous Masters finish was a T9 in 2024, when he closed with a 69.
Hatton, 34, has a past top-10 finish in each of the majors, with his best result to date being a T4 at the 2025 U.S. Open. His T14 at Augusta last year would have been significantly better if not for a 75 on Saturday that dropped him out of serious contention, and Hatton regularly seems to play some of his best golf on the world’s most challenging courses.
JON RAHM (+850)
Qualified By: Past Champion (2023)
The captain of Legion XII that includes Hatton and McKibbin, Rahm already has a win, three runners-up and another top-5 on LIV in 2026. The Spaniard shot a final-round 69 at Augusta in 2023 to beat Koepka and Mickelson by four shots to claim his second major victory.
Rahm, 31, has consistently risen to the major challenge since bolting for LIV Golf in 2024. That includes three top-15 major finishes in 2025, topped by a T7 at the U.S. Open after a T8 at the PGA Championship.
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU (+1100)
Qualified By: 2024 U.S. Open Champion
DeChambeau, 32, is the hottest player on the LIV circuit, having won consecutive events in dramatic playoffs while also posting a T3 in Adelaide. That followed a 2025 in which he posted top-10s in every major outside of his missed cut at the U.S. Open.
He shared the 36-hole lead at Augusta in 2024 before finishing sixth, and held the 54-hole lead last year before settling for a T5. That’s DeChambeau’s best Masters finish to date, but his prodigious length off the tee and increasing knowledge of Augusta’s nuances make him one of the clear favorites entering the week.
–Derek Harper, Field Level Media
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