The Chipping Forecast<\/a>. \u201cI think it is unequivocally true now that LIV is not working for these guys at the majors.<\/p>\n\u201cYou could look at Cam Smith \u2013 he\u2019s fallen away dramatically. Jon Rahm\u2026 Bryson\u2026 Okay, you can look at Tyrrell [Hatton] \u2013 I personally think Tyrrell plays well in the majors because he much prefers being at the majors than he does being at LIV Golf.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you had asked Jon or Bryson, when they finished their tournaments, \u2018You must be disappointed, but what a great thing LIV Golf Johannesburg was because you\u2019ve taken golf around the world\u2019, I don\u2019t think either of them would really give a shit about that, because they would be most disappointed about their performance at Augusta.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd that tells me that there\u2019s an alignment issue between what success looks like for LIV Golf and what it looks like for Jon and Bryson and these guys coming off LIV, because they still care most about the majors, and I don\u2019t think they were adequately equipped to turn up at Augusta this year and compete against Scottie Scheffler and Rory. I just don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pepperell stopped short of writing LIV players off at majors entirely, but he believes the early-season schedule is far from ideal preparation for the year\u2019s first grand slam event.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think things will change as the year goes on,\u201d he said. \u201cBut they\u2019ve done so much traveling. They\u2019ve been all around the world and haven\u2019t even played in the US [before the Masters]. They\u2019re playing against guys who have just been in the West Coast and Florida. It\u2019s chalk and cheese. I cannot believe for a moment that LIV Golf is adequately preparing these guys to come to Augusta and be where they need to be there. It\u2019s just not.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of the LIV stars to struggle at Augusta was 2017 Masters champion Sergio Garcia. The Spaniard joined LIV Golf in 2022 and missed his next three cuts at the Masters. He went slightly better this year, with a T47 finish, but it was his behaviour on Sunday that drew the most attention.<\/p>\n
![\"Sergio](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/sergio_garcia_.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Playing alongside Rahm, Garcia\u2019s frustrations boiled over early. After missing right off the first tee, he followed it with another wayward drive on the par-5 second.<\/p>\n
The combustible Spaniard slammed his driver into the turf twice, carving out a sizeable divot on the tee box, before turning and striking a nearby water cooler in anger, breaking his club in the process.<\/p>\n
For Pepperell, it crossed a line.<\/p>\n
\u201cSergio is the most petulant of them all,\u201d he said. \u201cI think there\u2019s a difference doing it at Augusta; it shows a slightly higher level of psychopathy than I\u2019m comfortable with, and I think that\u2019s where you can really reveal something about your character that maybe shouldn\u2019t be revealed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Augusta National is one of golf\u2019s sacred arenas \u2013 a place steeped in history, tradition, and respect \u2013 and it demands a certain standard of behaviour from those who walk its fairways.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat place should command utmost respect, and if you can\u2019t do it there, then there\u2019s seemingly nowhere you can do it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry to say that, but Sergio, once again, did not cover himself in glory. Love him as a golfer, but as is the case so often, he\u2019s just a childish brat, frankly, on the course and it\u2019s sad to see someone of his age do it \u2013 that\u2019s the tough thing to watch.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pepperell also hinted at a broader cultural issue, suggesting the company players keep can influence standards.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the guy that Jon Rahm spends a lot of time with on LIV,\u201d he added. Rahm has recently been embroiled in a feisty dispute with the DP World Tour over fines for joining LIV and his Ryder Cup eligibility.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo we look at the way he then corresponds with the DP World Tour in his position on this. You know, you\u2019ve got to be careful who you surround yourself with in life. And Jon should be asking himself some questions on that front, in my view, because he [Garcia] is not a good influence.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even more damning for LIV was the performance at Augusta of players who have now departed.<\/p>\n
Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed \u2013 both of whom quit LIV this season \u2013 delivered strong performances at Augusta, underlining what sharp, competitive preparation can produce.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think this week, if ever there was a week where these LIV golfers should seriously reflect, it\u2019s this week,\u201d said Pepperell. \u201cBecause touch on Patrick Reed and Brooks Koepka; Brooks Koepka looks a different guy. He\u2019s fit. He looks up for the fight. He\u2019s playing better. There\u2019s a guy who could go and win a major this year or contend, and I don\u2019t think you could have said that about him a year ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
Whether it\u2019s scheduling, sharpness, or something deeper, Augusta has a way of exposing the truth \u2013 and this year, it didn\u2019t make for comfortable reading for LIV Golf.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A disappointing Masters for LIV Golf has reignited the debate over whether its schedule is leaving players undercooked…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":586732,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[427,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-586731","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-golf","9":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/586731","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=586731"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/586731\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/586732"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=586731"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=586731"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=586731"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}