| LIV players prove their mettle and shut a few detractors at the Masters  Source: Masters The "LIV Golf versus the PGA Tour" question was topmost in the mind of fans as the season’s first major championship began at Augusta National Golf Club. The 87th Masters may not have resulted in the two parties burying the hatchet, but it surely managed to dispel the unwarranted notion that players who have moved to the 54-hole tournament series, have forgotten how to play golf. Jon Rahm may have won the 87th edition, and I thought he really was the most deserving champion, but LIV Golf stars Phil Mickelson and Brooks Koepka were tied for second place, and Patrick Reed was one further shot behind, in tied fourth place. Off the 18 players from the Saudi Golf-funded and Greg Norman-fronted league who started the Masters, 12 made the cut. With Kevin Na withdrawing early in the opening round feeling sick, that was an impressive showing. Of course, more interesting was three players inside the top-five. The tournament was played in good spirit, just as the Masters organisers hoped, with none of the animosity showing. There were heartening scenes of Adam Scott playing practice rounds with Cameron Smith, Rory McIlroy with Koepka and Rahm with Sergio Garcia. Perhaps no other moment better demonstrated that game always recognises game than when Freddie Couples, who has been outspoken in his criticism of LIV Golf, enthusiastically high-fived Mito Pereira after the Chilean holed his third shot for an eagle on the par-5 13th hole on Sunday. Obviously, the interaction between the players is one thing and the getting together of organisations is another. During the Masters week, news came out of London that the DP World Tour won its case in the Court of Arbitration against LIV players. The dates in the PGA Tour vs LIV Golf trial may have been pushed back by almost a year. If it will be heard in May next year, there seems very little probability of the two parties coming together before that. Moving back to the tournament, you are bound to hear about Rahm, Koepka and Mickelson, so I thought I’d focus on a few other players who were impressive at the 87th Masters… Sahith Theegala: What a player! We wrote about him after the third round, when he was nowhere near the top-10, and he then produced a screamer of a 67 on Sunday to get inside the top-10. Whatever happens to his season after this, he is guaranteed to return to the Masters next year on the basis of finishing inside the top-12. Not just that, he also pulled off the shot of the tournament, when he chipped in on the 16th hole from almost the same spot from where Tiger Woods made his in 2005. That, ironically, is also one of Sahith’s first memories in golf. Tiger Woods: Woods added his name to the history books by making his 23rd straight cut as a professional, but just like Saturday last year, the atrocious weather took a toll on the five-time champion. Visibly limping during the third round in pouring rain, the American superstar pulled out on Sunday morning, citing a recurrence of his plantar fasciitis problem, which had prevented him from teeing up at the Hero World Challenge in December last year. Short on competitive golf, also Woods was banking on his experience and immense knowledge of the golf course to have any chance of a sixth Green Jacket, but the ugly weather did not help at all. Sam Bennett: The second half of the tournament was not exciting as the first for the young US Amateur champion after he was in third place at the halfway stage with two rounds of 68, but he showed enough fortitude in battling the weather conditions and becoming only one of the seven amateurs to make the cut. Fred Couples: The man is absolutely remarkable. At the age of 63 years, six months and five days, he became the oldest player to make the cut at the Masters. | 
