The Masters: No plans for fresh pathway for LIV Golf players to earn invite to Augusta National

Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley has said there is no immediate plan to change their exemption criteria to allow more LIV Golf players to qualify for The Masters.

Only 13 players from LIV Golf are in the 89-man field this week at Augusta National, live on Sky Sports Golf, with players from the Saudi-backed circuit struggling to qualify for majors due to the lack of world ranking points available at their events.

Seven have lifetime invites as winners of the Green Jacket - including defending champion Jon Rahm - and three have a spot for being a major winner in the past five years, with two more included based on starting their year inside the top 50, and Joaquin Niemann getting a special invitation.

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Rahm is among those to call for the opportunity for other players to "earn their way in" to majors, although Ridley insists the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) will continue to be used and leave LIV Golf players relying on special invitations.

"We believe that it [the OWGR] is a legitimate determiner of who the best players in the game are," Ridley said. "There's been communication that's been public regarding LIV's application, which it subsequently was withdrawn after some remedial suggestions were made regarding pathways and access to players and concern about some of the aspects of team golf.

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"I think in our case, we're an invitational, and we can adjust as necessary. A great example is this year Joaquin Niemann was given a special invitation. We felt that Joaquin had not only a great record coming up to this year, but after his season, he went to Australia, played very well there.

"If we felt that there were a player or players, whether they played on the LIV Tour or any other tour, who were deserving of an invitation to The Masters, we would exercise that discretion with regard to special invitations.

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"I think it will be difficult to establish any type of points system that had any connection to the rest of the world of golf because they're basically, not totally, but for the most part, a closed shop.

"There is some relegation but not very much. It all really depends on what new player they sign. Our goal is to have, to the greatest extent possible, the best field in golf, the best players in the world.

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"Having said that, we never have had all the best players in the world because of the structure of our tournament. It's an invitational. It's a small field. We've always honoured our past champions, we also honour amateurs, but we do have flexibility."

Garcia: Golf in a 'perfect spot'

2017 champion Sergio Garcia is among the LIV contingent in the field, with the Spaniard insisting golf is in a good place and blaming the media for the divide between players from the circuit and those on the PGA Tour.

"I think the game is in a perfect spot," Garcia said. "The professional game, maybe it's a little more separated, mostly because of the media, not so much because of the players. I think the game itself is in a great spot.

"I think that we have the most amount of people playing the game, which is great, and people have to realise one thing, that the future of the game isn't us. We're not the future of the game. Neither me or Rory [McIlroy]. We're not the future. We're the present of the game.

"But the future of the game is those kids that are watching us play, that want to get into the game, that want to play and then maybe become professionals. I think that's what sometimes people forget. Obviously the more togetherness that you get, the better it is for everyone.

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"There's no doubt about that. But there's room for everyone. I don't think that's a problem at all. The same way that I love watching Real Madrid and LaLiga, you like to watch the Premier League and whoever your team is. Everybody can support whoever they have, and there's plenty of people to support it."

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