As is traditional, at eleven in the morning local time, the president of Augusta National and the Masters, Fred Ridley, held a comprehensive press conference this Wednesday where he addressed many interesting issues. He spoke about LIV Golf and its future regarding the Masters, the autumn tournaments of the PGA Tour, the length of the course for the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, his concerns about slow play, and revealed a curious anecdote with Carla Bernat.
Regarding the possibility of the Masters de Augusta including an exemption for LIV Golf, similar to what the US Open or the Open Championship have done, Ridley was reluctant. “We are concerned about the situation with LIV due to the lack of pathways to enter and exit the circuit and the team format. The USGA and the R&A act independently. We respect their decisions. We are an invitational tournament and have always considered special cases, like with Joaquín Niemann,” he assured. In other words, it seems unlikely that such exemptions will occur in the future, beyond a discretionary invitation to someone deemed deserving.
Similarly, when asked about the possibility of eliminating invitations to the winners of the autumn tournaments of the PGA Tour or offering a spot to the winner of the BMW PGA Championship of the DP World Tour, Ridley commented that “it’s a matter of balance. We value winning a PGA TOUR tournament, and that’s why we grant invitations. But, as every year, we will review our rules after the tournament. It’s possible we will make changes, and your comments on international tournaments are valid,” referring to Wentworth. It seems obvious that the door is open, and undoubtedly, it would be a great recognition of the tournament and the role of the DP World Tour in global golf.
Regarding the situation in the PGA Tour and LIV, Ridley expressed support for the agreement, as expected. “We talk a lot about reunification. And when I think about it, I mean that the best players in the world can face each other more than four times a year. I am not in a position to say how the organisations should unite, what legal or financial structure it should have, but what I do —and will continue to do— is encourage the parties involved to cooperate, to find a solution that allows everyone to play together again. I think we all agree that seeing the best players together only four times a year is not enough,” he stated emphatically.
In this regard, he admitted that they have invited Scott O’Neill, the new CEO of LIV Golf replacing Greg Norman, to the Masters, although it doesn’t mean much more than a simple act of courtesy. “Well, all invitations are at our initiative. Scott is here, and we are pleased to have him as a guest. Although I have no specific plans to meet with him, I know there will be some conversations, and we are happy he is here.”
The possibility of increasing the distance for the ANWA (they play the same length as the members)… “Well, I can tell you that we don’t have to adjust the course length for the members… (Laughter) No, seriously, a bit of history: in 2019, at the first Women’s Amateur, I feared the course from the members’ tees was too long. The course measures just under 6400 yards, but it usually plays longer due to the hills. Now that has been mitigated with the ‘sand capping’ work, which improves ball bounce. Maybe that’s behind your observation. But I’m not worried that it’s too long. Many players are reaching the green in two shots on holes 13 and 15, and that’s what we want.”
The anecdote with Carla that left Ridley wide-eyed… “I was surprised when I asked Carla what she hit on the 18th green, and she said ‘a 50’. I thought, a 5-iron? No, it was a 50-degree wedge. The day before, I hit a good drive and a 6-iron. So maybe you’re right about the distance. But I think the course plays fair. And what I saw five years ago at Champions Retreat reassured me. I saw the power and technical skill of these young women. I don’t think we need to lengthen the course.”
Satisfied with the change introduced last year on hole 13… “The current design is not yet three years old. More data needs to be considered before drawing conclusions. The weather has a big influence; last year, there were two days without data due to bad weather. Interestingly, last year more players attempted to reach the green in two shots on the two days with data than the previous year when the hole was shorter. The reason: now, if the drive goes a bit to the right, it doesn’t end up in the trees, as before. Maybe more players ended up in Rae’s Creek, and that raised the scores. But the goal of the change was to generate more excitement, and that seems to be happening. We’ll see what happens this year.”
On slow play… “We have more players this year, 95 in total. That means two additional groups. We prefer to adjust at the start of the day rather than at the end. That’s why we start earlier and with a group of two, which helps maintain the pace. That puts pressure on the following groups, as if they keep up with the group ahead, everything will go well, and that group will play faster.”
The invitation to Ángel Cabrera and the criticism from feminist groups… “Of course, we repudiate any form of domestic violence. As for Ángel, he has served the sentence imposed by the Argentine courts. He is a Masters champion, and that’s why he was invited.”
Additionally, he announced the construction for next year’s Masters of a new service building exclusively for the players, which will include, among other things, a state-of-the-art gym, as well as rooms for families to gather.
