Masters entrants seek good vibes at LIV Golf Miami

MIAMI – The 54 players competing this week at LIV Golf Miami share one goal: Tame the Blue Monster at Trump National Doral and celebrate atop the podium on Sunday afternoon.

Twelve of those players, however, share an additional goal: Create some positive momentum heading into the golf season’s first major next week at the Masters.

On paper, Legion XIII Captain Jon Rahm is trending nicely. He started the year with a runner-up finish in Riyadh, then added three more top-6 finishes. That’s allowed him to maintain his incredible string of never having finished outside the top 10 of any LIV Golf event he’s completed (a total of 16 starts since he joined the league prior to last season). He’s also enjoying another streak – 21 consecutive rounds under par dating back to last season, a new LIV Golf record.

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Yet the reigning LIV Golf Individual Champion has yet to post an individual victory in 2025 and finds himself nearly 20 points behind Torque GC Captain Joaquin Niemann, who already has two individual wins. In other words, not all questions have been answered as Rahm seeks his second Masters win in three years.

“I've been able to have a lot of good finishes, but I would say it hasn't been what I would consider playing my best,” Rahm said. “I think I've scored really, really well, but with some level of discomfort in some parts of my game that I kind of need to get over to accomplish bigger things, especially talking about major championships.

“I think I'm very close to that if not over that. I think especially the last few weeks, I've been playing really good golf, feeling really comfortable. Obviously, Augusta is a whole different level and so is the Blue Monster, but that's why I like this week. It's such a good prep for a major coming up. I'm looking forward to this week to hopefully see some of those improvements and come into next week with a clear mind of what to do.”

Niemann, as you might suspect, is very happy with his current form after wins in Adelaide and Singapore. He’ll play next week on a special invite, and he hopes to make the most of it as he seeks the first major of his career.

“Obviously I've been playing great to start the year,” he said. “I haven't been in the position that these guys have been of already winning majors. It's something that I'm obviously looking forward to and dream of.”

Niemann isn’t the only 2025 LIV Golf individual winner heading to Augusta National.

Fireballs GC Captain Sergio Garcia won in Hong Kong and is third in points, maintaining his form from last season when he won in Andalucia and finished third overall in the Individual Championship race behind Rahm and Niemann. Doral should be a favorable launchpad, given that he nearly won here last year, losing in a playoff to Stinger GC’s Dean Burmester.

“Miami is a good preparation for Augusta, and there’s nothing better than competition to get ready for a major,” Garcia said. “I'm excited about it. I hope to keep the good run that I’ve been having and keep doing some good things that hopefully help me at Augusta. I want to go there, enjoy the week, and really embrace it. Hopefully, it'll be an amazing week.”

Garcia’s lone major victory is the 2017 Masters. He’s now 45 and history isn’t exactly on his side, at least in terms of age. Just five players in golf history have won majors at an older age, and Jack Nicklaus is the only one to do so at the Masters; he was 46 during his memorable victory in 1986.

But Garcia appears to have turned back the clock. Physically, he’s held up well. Mentally, he’s improved, exchanging negative pressure for a positive appreciation of spending 25 years as a pro golfer. He recalled at last year’s Masters that he “kind of lost my head a little bit” in the second round, and as a result, missed the cut. He’s determined to focus on the fun part of playing in majors now.

It also helps that his Fireballs GC team has been the dominant force this season as they enter Miami on a three-tournament win streak. That will put a smile on any captain’s face.

“Mentally, I’ve improved a lot in the last few years – especially in the last year and a half,” Garcia said. “I’ve always loved playing golf, but I’ve really been enjoying it over the past year and a half.

“I want to enjoy the majors as much as I can because I’ve realized how difficult it is to qualify for them when you’re not in the top 15 in the world – where I was lucky to be for pretty much 90% of my career. So when I do get into a major, I want to enjoy it as much as possible and then play the best I can. Even if I don’t play great, I want to enjoy the week like I should.”

Garcia will be the third oldest LIV Golf player in next week’s field. Two-time winner Bubba Watson is a year older, while three-time Masters champ Phil Mickelson is 54.

Mickelson tied for second with Brooks Koepka in 2023 behind Rahm, but the World Golf Hall of Famer struggled for results in his first three LIV Golf seasons. He’s adjusted his approach this year, opting to rely on his course management and savviness instead of trying to keep up with the younger, bigger hitters.

It’s already paid off with a solo third in Hong Kong – his best-ever LIV Golf finish – and two other point-producing efforts. If he’s going to make a run at adding to his own record as golf’s oldest major winner, it could very well be next week.

“It's hard to look that far ahead,” Mickelson said, “but it's fun heading into the tournament, which is a week that we all cherish the most.”

Two players who definitely expect to contend next week are reigning U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau and five-time major winner Koepka. Neither have had success at Augusta National, but Koepka has two runners-up, and DeChambeau posted his best-ever Masters finish last year with a tie for sixth.

DeChambeau has not been satisfied with his wedge play this year, and that’s contributed to keeping him out of the top 5 in any of the first four events. It’s a point of emphasis at Doral. “This week it’s going to be about wedging, getting those dialed in, get ready for next week,” he said.

As for Koepka, he enters Miami fresh off his solo second in Singapore, his best result of the year. He’s been prepping for the majors for the last month and seems to be peaking as usual with the first major around the corner. His final-round 6-under 65 at Sentosa is a terrific sign that things are on track.

“Typically a slow starter when it comes to playing actually good tournament golf, but everything seems to be piecing together nicely,” Koepka said. “I like where I'm at right now.”

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