07 April 2024 , 20:53
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Bubba Watson acknowledges tension was apparent between LIV Golf and PGA Tour players at the Masters Champions Dinner last year.
Watson, 45, attended the gathering alongside fellow LIV members Charl Schwartzel, Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed, Phil Mickelson and Sergio Garcia. Scottie Scheffler hosted those six and 26 other former champions, plus Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley.
Despite being the first Masters following the launch of LIV, the elephant in the room was not even mentioned inside the clubhouse across the evening. Mickelson is said to have scarcely spoken 12 months after skipping the dinner and tournament for personal reasons. Fred Couples and Gary Player also purportedly put their grievances with the league to one side.
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A year on, Watson is anticipating an altogether different atmosphere. “It will be different to last year,” he has proclaimed to the Telegraph.
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Acknowledging that the awkwardness will have dissipated, Watson added: “The two sides, LIV and the PGA Tour, weren’t talking back then, but there are negotiations going on now. The PGA Tour was against us, but now they’re not. As it should, the night will be all about the champion and the great names in that room. And The Masters will be all about the golf.”
But that is not to say there will be no nerves in the room. Namely from Jon Rahm, who has taken his role as host seriously.
Jon Rahm will host the Masters Champions Dinner for Scottie Scheffler and company this year"When I tell you that this has definitely been rent-free in my head - I usually have no issues with public speaking. No problem. I'll get up there and talk about anything," the champion said during a media video call last month.
"Just the image of standing up and having everybody in that room look at me and having to speak to all these great champions, it's quite daunting. I think I'm just going to speak from the heart, and that's usually what delivers the better speech.
"It's definitely not going to be prepared. I don't know exactly what I'm going to say, but hopefully, one or two glasses of wine help me get a little bit more fluid in that speech."
Rahm has a selection of wine to accompany what he has dubbed a "northern Spanish Basque country Bilbao menu". There are drops of red and white from his homeland to calm the nerves alongside plenty of pintxos, what tapas are known as in the north of the country.
But not everyone knows what to expect. "I have seen the menu, yes," Johnson has told LIV's media team. "I'm sure it's going be fantastic. I don't know what a lot of it is. I do know there's ham. Playing in Spain last year, I ate a lot of ham, so I know that's going to be great. I love Spanish food; I'm just not that familiar with it. But I can imagine it's going to be great."