LIV Golf Signs Yet Another Masters Champ In Bubba Watson

Topline

Bubba Watson is joining LIV Golf, the polarizing Saudi-backed tour announced Friday afternoon, confirming reports earlier in the week that the 2012 and 2014 Masters champion will become the latest big-name American to join the circuit.

Key Facts

The 43-year-old Watson is the sixth Masters winner to defect from the PGA Tour, joining Sergio Garcia, Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Patrick Reed and Charl Schwartzel.

LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman described Watson as a “risk-taker who has cemented his name among the world’s very best” in the announcement.

Watson will attend the tour’s next tournament in Boston but doesn’t expect to as he recovers from a knee injury, Watson said in a statement on his Twitter.

Key Background

A former world No. 2 once considered the most marketable player in golf, Watson has struggled in recent years, and hasn’t won a PGA Tour event since 2018. Watson last played on the tour in May due to injury, and is now the 86th-ranked player in the world. Many of the other most notable players in LIV Golf are well into their 40s and beyond, but LIV Golf has made a clear recruiting pitch to target some of the game’s most accomplished players, including Phil Mickelson, the 52-year-old six-time major winner, and Henrik Stenson, who relinquished his Ryder Cup captaincy to join the tour.

What We Don’t Know

If Watson and other PGA Tour defectors will play in future Masters. It’s extremely unlikely that the Augusta National Golf Club overseeing the tournament will reverse their policy of lifetime qualification for former winners, though other majors have signaled they may work to keep out many LIV Golf players.

Further Reading

Here’s Why 9/11 Activism Is Haunting Trump Over His LIV Golf Backing (Forbes)

The World’s Highest-Paid Golfers 2022: LIV Golf Reshuffles Top Earners And Sends Pay Soaring (Forbes)