Tiger Woods fears awkward Masters Champions Dinner for three reasons

Scottie Scheffler reflects on winning 2022 Masters

Golf legend Tiger Woods has admitted he expects this year’s Masters Champions Dinner to be an awkward affair with several LIV rebels set to be in attendance. The first major of 2023 gets underway on Thursday, and plenty of eyes will be on the LIV vs PGA Tour rivalry.

LIV golfers have not been banned from playing at the Masters and six of them will be invited to the pre-tournament dinner. Bubba Watson, Phil Mickelson, Charl Schwartzel, Sergio Garcia, Patrick Reed and Dustin Johnson are all former Masters champions and Woods, as a five-time winner, revealed his concerns about the event back in February.

“The Champions Dinner is going to be obviously something that’s talked about,” he said. “We need to honour Scottie [Scheffler, who won last year’s Masters].

“Scottie’s the winner, it’s his dinner. So making sure that Scottie gets honoured correctly but also realising the nature of what has transpired and the people that have left, just where our situations are either legally, emotionally, there’s a lot there.”

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One of the points of contention Woods is clearly referencing is the ongoing antitrust lawsuit between LIV and the PGA tour, which was originally filed by 11 rebels before LIV joined the lawsuit. Among those who filed the original lawsuit was Mickelson, who will be at this year’s Masters after skipping last year’s event. The American has since dropped out of the lawsuit.

Fellow LIV star and former Masters winner Reed also had a $750m (£600m) defamation lawsuit recently dismissed. And Woods is concerned about the reaction the LIV golfers may receive given that “there’s a lot there” both “legally” and “emotionally”.

1992 Masters winner Fred Couples, for example, recently called Mickelson a “nutbag” and Garcia a “clown”, while three-time champion Sir Nick Faldo joked plastic cutlery will have to be used at the dinner “just in case”. Woods is also acutely aware the dinner will be “talked about” a lot and hopes the drama does not overshadow what is meant to be a celebration of Scheffler’s 2022 victory.

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And Scheffler himself has said he hopes players will put aside their differences at the dinner. “I’m not quite sure what the vibes will be like but I think we’re all there to play in the tournament and celebrate the Masters and celebrate all being past champions,” he said last month.

“I think the dinner will be really special for all of us to be able to gather together again and I’m sure we’ll put all that other stuff aside and just have a good time together. It’s a pretty special group of people and I’m just looking forward to all gathering together.”

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