OPINION: Strap yourselves in; the 2023 Masters will be like no other

I’m a big golf fan and I especially like the Majors.

The year’s first Major, the Masters, gets underway at beautiful Augusta National in Georgia on Thursday.

Like so many golf nuts, it is one of my favourite sporting events every year. There are many cheesy things about the Masters; many will criticse the traditions, the white coats the caddies have to wear, the use of the word “patrons” instead of fans, the music of the television production … the list goes on.

But, I love it, and so do many others. The biggest attraction of course is the golf; it never seems to disappoint. And you just never know what’s going to happen on the back nine on Masters Sunday.

LIV Golf

I’m sure this year’s tournament, the 87th, will be as good as any before it. But what makes the 2023 event even more intriguing and curious is that it is the first Major since the first season of LIV Golf and the defections from the PGA Tour of players like Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, Cameron Smith, Patrick Reed and South Africans Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel — all Major champions, and some of them former Masters winners.

Much has been said about the breakaway LIV tour by many players, and administrators, on both sides and one can only wonder what the interactions between certain individuals will be like this week.

Some, like Johnson and Smith, have said they have been well received at Augusta, with the Australian Smith saying “There’s too much rubbish going on,” and he’d be right.

While I’m not a fan of the LIV Tour, it is there and it is an option for players, and everyone has a right to play where they want to. And the sooner everyone accepts it the better, because the bitching and nastiness in some instances isn’t necessary.

There is no doubt the relationships between some players have taken a knock in the last year so it will be fascinating and interesting to see how certain players get on with each other over the coming days.

And imagine if a LIV player were to triumph on Sunday and be handed the green jacket. Well, that would be quite something. Enjoy!