After withdrawing from the 2nd round in the Genesis Invitational in February due to illness, Tiger Woods has been inactive on the professional greens since then. He is ready to participate in the Masters this week and will appear at the presser on April 9. Woods is one of the 11 PGA Tour players chosen for the presser. However, the situation is a bit bleak for the PGA Tour’s archrival, LIV Golf.

Only 13 golfers from the breakaway circuit were eligible to play in the Masters this year. From the LIV clan, only two of them are added to the conference list, missing out on the large chunk of former Masters’ winners on LIV Golf. It can be sensed that the Greg Norman-led circuit might have felt left out on the 2024 Masters’ interaction roster.

When looking at the announced list of pros that will be doing the press conference, it has Ludvig Aberg making his debut, Viktor Hovland, who has played only five events without any top performances, and Rory McIlroy, who has been struggling to clinch a major win for about a decade now. Despite having many former champions like 2x Masters winner Bubba Watson, Dustin Johnson, and Charles Schwartzel on the circuit, only two were given the spot in Tuesday’s presser. It is the reigning Masters champion, Jon Rahm, and the five-time major winner, Brooks Koepka. Unfortunately, the 15-time major champ has not finished a PGA Tour event for almost 14 months and has fallen to rank 959. And with the recent back injury and withdrawal from the Genesis Invitational, his participation in the Masters’ was quite doubtful.

Last week Woods’ longtime friend, Notah Begay III, provided a worrying injury update. The NBC Sports analyst said, “He’s got zero mobility in that left ankle and really has low-back challenges now, which he knew he was going to have… He can play the golf. We always knew the question was going to be ‘Can he walk the 72 (holes)?’ That’s still up in the air. But can he recover, from one round to the next? That’s the biggest question that I really don’t know and he’s not going to know either until he gets out there and figures out whether the way he’s prepared for this year’s Masters is going to work for him.”

Luckily the golfing community was soon delighted when the Masters’ pre-tournament interview schedule was out, Woods’ name was on the list of speakers. It was a positive sign that Woods will compete in the tournament. The Masters will start with its decades-old traditions, such as the Champions Dinner and the Par-3 Contest.

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The committee missed out on three-time Masters winner and, inarguably, the most successful left-handed golfer of the Masters, Phil Mickelson. The treatment of Lefty being left alone had also enraged the fans, as they called it “an absolute disgrace.” Interestingly, the LIV Golf participants played remarkably well at last year’s edition, which makes them equally deserving candidates for the presser.

Patrick Reed not on the presser for 2024

As it’s widely known, the PIF-backed league now has two of the last four major winners on its rosters. When the Spaniard won the 2023 Masters, nobody would’ve guessed that he would defect to LIV, but he did. What people also didn’t predict last year was the final day leaderboard of the Masters. While Mickelson and Koepka were T2 and four strokes behind the winner, one more golfer was in the top 5.

It was the 2018 Masters winner, Patrick Reed. Last year, the 33-year-old shot a final-round score of 4 under 68 and even surpassed world number one Scottie Scheffler to position himself at T4 with Jordan Spieth. However, despite the top-four finish, Reed could not be a part of the 2024 Masters presser. LIV players made themselves and their circuit visible last year, but as it turns out, not enough to gain traction on the press release roster!

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