Report: LIV Golf officials invited to 2024 Masters

LIV Golf officials have been invited to Augusta National Country Club for this week's Masters, according to a report. 

Per Telegraph Sport, it is said the breakaway tour's mastermind and powerful Saudi businessman Yasir Al-Rumayyan has been invited to attend the first major of the year. 

Al-Rumayyan wears many hats but most importantly is the governor of Saudi Arabia's PIF, which bankrolls LIV. 

He has been a prominent figure in golf's 'civil war' and was initially painted as malevolent force since June 2022, hellbent on buying the men's game.  

But the 54-year-old shocked the world of sport last June when he appeared on national television alongside PGA Tour boss Jay Monahan to announce an armistice through a vague 'framework agreement'. 

He also agreed to drop the antitrust lawsuit LIV had filed against the Tour. 

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The North American circuit withdrew their counterclaim and since then both sides have been working to find a solution that would bring the game back together. 

We are still no closer to finding that solution on the eve of the first major, but the move by the most exclusive golf club in the world will represent a significant olive branch to LIV/PIF. 

The aforementioned Al-Rumayyan met face-to-face with PGA Tour player directors for the first time in March. 

Al-Rumayyan played golf with Tiger Woods after a secret meeting in the Bahamas and, despite those in attendance remaining tight-lipped over the discussions, we were led to believe talks were 'constructive'. 

Player director Peter Malnati later said of the meeting: "Yasir was very real, very human, very approachable and easy to talk to. 

"He seemed like a real human being rather than some mysterious, potentially scary threat to our livelihood.

"That was nice! My biggest takeaway is that there is a tremendous amount of work ahead of us to find points of overlap in our vision for the future of professional golf and the future of the PGA Tour.

"But you could sense a hunger on his part to be a part of the Tour moving forward.”

If Al-Rumayyan does attend this week's Masters, it won't be the first time he has attended a major championship. 

He attended last year's Open at Royal Liverpool where he was spotted alongside departing R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers. 

Slumbers later admitted the R&A held talks about funding Saudi Arabian golf schemes. 

His comments only led to speculation the Saudi's PIF could use the Open and Women's Open to increase its footprint in golf. 

Al-Rumayyan's name also came up in documents released by the U.S. Senate subcommittee's investigation into the PGA Tour's framework agreement with the PIF and DP World Tour. 

A shocking proposal made by PIF reps suggested in a plan for peace that Woods, 48, and Rory McIlroy would captain LIV Golf teams. 

Further to that, it was suggested that Al-Rumayyan wanted to be a member at Augusta National and the R&A. 

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