Charles Howell III's Hot Start in LIV Golf Won't Get Him Into the Masters
On Mondays, Alex Miceli will check in with what he learned over the last week.
What I learned this week is the strength of the Masters field is not what it should be.
I know it can be considered a little bombastic to question the green jackets, but if not me, then who?
Let’s start with the premise that the powers that be at Augusta National already figured out that leaving Dustin Johnson, Cam Smith, Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia, Louis Oosthuizen, Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau out of this year’s Masters would not only lessen the strength of the field, but cheapen the victory by whoever did win.
Even with 18 LIV Golf members exempt into this years Masters field, it's still not a fair representation of the best players available. What Augusta clearly didn’t figure is that using the same old formula to fill the field needs a thorough review with another tour now a viable alternative for professional golfers.
Let’s look at Charles Howell III.
Should he be in the Masters field this year?
The easy answer is yes. After winning once on that other tour, Howell looks as good as Russell Henley, Seamus Power, Adam Svensson, Si Woo Kim, Justin Rose, or Chris Kirk—all PGA Tour winners that received an exemption.
Finishing just one shot out of a playoff in Tucson, Ariz., for a potential second win after his victory in Mayakoba, Howell is the hottest player on LIV, but also one of the hottest players in professional golf.
By the way, if you weren’t watching any of the three days, you would have no idea the field strength or the fact that 18 of the 48 players will soon compete in Augusta.
Howell grew up watching the Masters up close and personal, having been born in the second-largest city in Georgia. He made an annual pilgrimage from his house to the Masters, his first being in 1987 when Larry Mize, also an Augusta native, chipped in on the 11th hole to beat Greg Norman.
“I stood up there to the right of the 11th fairway when Larry Mize chipped in from the right, with the Aureus visor that went flying,” Howell says. “It's still one of the most vivid memories I have in golf. The problem with that was I saw a guy from Augusta win the Masters at my very first time, so I thought it was easy. And clearly, it's not.”
In Howell’s case it’s not going to be easy even getting back into the field, much less winning.
Unlike the U.S. Open or British Open, which have a qualifying system in place that allows anyone with game a chance to qualify, the Masters uses the Official World Golf Ranking for most players that are not exempt to get into the field.
Related: See Where Howell Lands in Latest Top 100 in Sports Illustrated World Golf Rankings
Unfortunately, the OWGR currently ignores LIV Golf’s existence, thus unless you were in the top 30 in the FedEx Cup playoffs, top 50 in the OWGR at the end of 2022, won the Masters or played well enough the year before or played well in one of the other majors, getting into the Masters is impossible.
It’s not that Augusta National couldn’t offer invites to players that are playing well, but they are caught in a transition period where the OWGR may not be the best barometer in determining who should be invited to the majors. But since no other system is acknowledged, they will either have to abandon the OWGR and come up with a new approach to qualifying or the OWGR needs to be amended, allowing for LIV Golf to be included.
Howell is currently No. 324 in the OWGR. He's 37 in the Sports Illustrated World Golf Rankings, which considers LIV Golf results in its calculation.
LIV Golf has applied for membership into the OWGR, but the request is pending with no idea how long it will take.
“These fields are very strong, I think they speak for themselves, just look at them,” Howell says. “This is some of the best golf I've played in a long, long time.”
So, in his 24 years of playing golf, Howell, whose last win on the PGA Tour came in 2018 at the RSM Classic, believes he is playing at least that well if not better.
By the way, that win at the RSM got Howell back into the Masters after a seven-year absence. Wouldn’t it be proper if he would get in this year due to his win?
He hasn't ruled out playing in qualifiers for the U.S. and British Opens, which aren't closed shops.
"But the Masters is the one that means the most to me," he says. "And hopefully there's a way one day I can get back in.”